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| Rachel Elias | Daily Trojan | |
| At last. Helene Galen, Steven B. Sample and Louis Galen (left to right) announced the Galens’ $25-million gift was enough to begin construction on the events center. |
With a $25 million donation from philanthropists Louis and Helene Galen, the USC athletic department now has the $70 million required to begin construction on the project, USC President Steven B. Sample announced in a ceremony at Heritage Hall.
The new arena, which will be located at what is currently a parking lot at Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street, will be named the Galen Center. Construction for the facility is expected to begin in September 2004 and be completed by May 2006, seven years after the school originally announced plans to build an arena.
"A lot of people thought this was only a dream that would never become a reality," Sample said in an address to a crowd of hundreds that included alumni, donors and faculty.
"This generous gift from our dedicated friends Helene and Louis Galen allows us to turn that dream of building a sports and cultural events center into a reality."
The Galens' donation brought their total to the new campus events center to $35 million — the largest private gift ever received by the athletic department, athletic director Mike Garrett said.
It marked the third multimillion-dollar donation from the Galens. The longtime USC supporters created a $10 million trust for the center's construction in 2003 and donated $1.25 million to establish a dining and social activities facility, the Galen Center (which will be changed to a name yet to be determined), for student athletes in 1997.
After receiving a standing ovation, Lou Galen talked about the significance of giving USC men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams their first true home-court advantage after years of playing in "subpar" facilities.
"I remember going to see a basketball game at the Shrine Auditorium and thinking, 'This is really silly,'" he said. "If there was one great thing this school was ever lacking, it was a great indoor facility."
The Galen Center will hold 10,258 seats and be complemented by a 1,900-space parking center at Jefferson Boulevard and Hope Street.
The facility will play host to an estimated 130 events each year, including USC men's and women's basketball and volleyball games as well as concerts, pageants and theater performances.
It is what USC officials have conceptualized since 1999 when the first plans to build a new facility were unveiled. It was the first significant action taken since rumors about plans surfaced earlier in the 1990s.
The original target date for completion was 2002, but the economy began struggling shortly after the announcement, making USC's objective of selling expensive naming rights speculated to be in the $50 million range nearly impossible.
After Sample enforced the university's policy that capital projects be paid for within 11 quarters of their approval, the project was pushed back until the majority of the money was raised.
Earlier this year, an article in the Orange County Register confirmed that the athletic department had secured more than 75 percent of the $70 million it needed for the first phase of the Events Center.
Although there were rumors Sample was against selling naming rights to a corporate sponsor, it was widely believed that the university would acquire the final 25 percent by doing so. Sample, however, remained tight-lipped as to how they would complete the funding until finally announcing the Galens' donation Wednesday.
"As you all know, this has been one well kept secret," Sample joked during the ceremony.
USC needs to have its Environmental Impact Report approved before construction drawings can be finalized, but it anticipates receiving that approval before beginning construction.
If completed on time in the spring of 2006, the first USC team to use the Galen Center will be the women's volleyball team. Coach Mick Haley said it will only add to the Women of Troy's recent surge into national prominence after winning the NCAA championship last year.
"I'm excited, I really think this will become the center of NCAA women's volleyball," Haley said. "And, besides USC sports, I really think in time the facility will become one of the hottest places to go in L.A."
Haley, along with women's basketball coach Chris Gobrecht and men's volleyball coach Turhan Douglas, attended the ceremony. Men's basketball coach Henry Bibby could not attend due to the death of his mother, who died in her home in North Carolina Monday.
In a statement released by the athletic department, Bibby said: "I'm excited about this great news on the progress of the new Center. We all look forward to the day we get to suit up in the new arena."
Added Garrett: "This was a very ambitious plan. "Today is a huge day not for not only the history of the athletic program, but the university."
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