Join the Dream!
O’Reilly Family Event Center

Drury University has always been able to count on its alumni and friends’ support to meet the growing needs of our campus. Within recent years, Drury has raised the necessary funds to construct the F.W. Olin Library, the Trustee Science Center, and the Pool Art Center.  Our focus now turns specifically to the needs of student life and our championship athletics program. One of our alumni families, the O’Reilly’s, has stepped up and pledged the lead gift toward the building of a new arena—the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

Drury’s facilities for wellness, intramural and intercollegiate athletics are in need of substantial improvement.  We have embarked on a strategy to address these needs in a phased program.  Phase 1 of this effort, for which we are currently seeking external funding, is the new O’Reilly Family Event Center.  The critical need is to address overcrowding and serious heating, cooling and ventilation problems in the antiquated Weiser Gym. 

Weiser Gym, constructed in 1946, is being used to its fullest capacity.  Its framework is provided by a steel airplane hangar built by the government during World War II.  Drury competes for students primarily within a contiguous state region.  In comparison to recreational and classroom facilities in physical education and exercise science at other institutions, Drury is seriously behind.  Weiser ranks in the bottom third among facilities in our Great Lakes Valley conference due to lack of air conditioning, minimal number of courts, limited seating capacity, and not fully ADA accessible. The Hutchens Physical Education and Recreation Center (HPER), completed in 1988 provided some additional capacity to Weiser.  At that time, our institutional enrollment was 3,005 students; today, our institutional enrollment is 5,015.  The HPER facility is no longer adequate to support our growing need for space.  In addition, Drury has been unable to bid on national tournaments, as host facilities typically seat at least 3,000.

Recruitment of top-notch students and faculty is not solely dependent on the strength of Drury’s programs – it is also greatly affected by the quality of our facilities.  Particularly given the upgrades and modernization of area gymnasiums, students tell us repeatedly that their facilities in high school far exceed what Drury has to offer.  Weiser Gym currently is our biggest negative when recruiting athletes, as well as the general student population.  The O’Reilly Event Center will allow Drury to host national conferences, cultural events, concerts, as well as bring in nationally-recognized speakers and hold the growing graduation ceremonies.  The availability of these types of events on campus will not only help us recruit the best and brightest students, but will create an engaging, inclusive environment that will help us retain those students to graduation. Phase II of the project will bring Drury University up to par with other educational institutions with fitness centers. The existing Weiser facility will be renovated to include a state-of-the-art work out center, an indoor track and other attractive amenities to which students have become accustom in their high schools. We anticipate these renovations will attract students to our campus as well as raise our retention rate.

The O’Reilly Family Event Center will be strategically positioned between the residential and academic hubs of the campus and will serve as an important connection between Drury’s past, present and future. 

Our architect for the project, H Design Group, LLC of Springfield has developed an innovative design of the new, 65,000 sq. ft. event center.  Read about the features of the center!

Drury’s student athletes excel off the court.  In the fall of 2007, 69 student athletes were named to the Dean’s List.  These students met the grade point average requirement of 3.6 (on a 4.0 scale) or higher to make this exclusive academic list. Fourteen registered a perfect 4.0 GPA for the semester.  The graduation rate for Drury’s student athletes has consistently been the highest recorded on campus.  A majority of our individual teams have received recognition from national organizations for their academic proficiency.  Two years ago, our athletics programs combined for a 3.36 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) to claim the Heartland Conference Overall GPA Award for a second straight year.  The quality of our current facility falls short of the quality of our student athletes.   

Our estimated construction cost of $17,300,000, which includes furnishing the building and all fees, was obtained through the project architect, H Design Group, LLC; the construction management provider, Killian Construction Company; and a diversity of campus constituents, advisors, and event center design experts.

When completed the design of the facility will offer a very compatible presence with the rest of the current campus. Brick will be used extensively and design features suggested by other buildings such as the F.W. Olin Library will be used. The O’Reilly Family Event Center will not only enhance the athletic and physical education departments, but all academic areas will be enriched as Drury will have the opportunity to bring in speakers, musical performances and conferences in all disciplines.