From the Duke News Service

May 14, 1999

The Duke University Board of Trustees Friday gave the go-ahead to start construction next week of a six-court indoor tennis center and to name the complex for alumnus Karl Sheffield and his wife, Alice, of Atlanta.

The Sheffields are giving the university $1.5 million to help pay for the facility, expected to cost $4.4 million including a 5,500-square foot support building housing locker rooms, coaches' offices and reception and meeting space. Groundbreaking is planned for Monday with completion set for the fall. Fund raising continues for the final $1 million to complete the support building.

"Karl and Alice Sheffield are avid tennis players, appreciative fans of Duke men's and women's athletic teams and tireless volunteer fund-raisers and it's fitting that we name what promises to be a splendid tennis center for them," said Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane. "Their generous contribution to the enhancement of student athletic and recreation facilities is greatly appreciated."

The Sheffield Tennis Center will serve as the southeastern anchor to the West Campus recreational complex now taking shape alongside Cameron Indoor Stadium, Card Gym and the Aquatic Center. When construction is completed later this year, there will be a plaza in front of Cameron and the new Wilson Center with the Schwartz-Butters Building anchoring the northwest end.

The tennis office building, designed by Cesar Pelli Associates from New Haven, Conn., will be built with the same Duke stone and glass curtain wall as the Schwartz-Butters Building and the Wilson Center. The tennis building itself will be built of precast walls and a metal roof. It will be partially concealed behind the office building on one side and by extensive landscaping on the other side next to Wannamaker Drive.

Not only will the air-conditioned tennis center be available for meets and practice by the men's and women's tennis teams, but it will give students, faculty and staff a place to play tennis in bad weather.

"With a first-class indoor tennis facility, Duke will be able to attract the very best athletes to what already is one of the nation's most competitive programs," Karl Sheffield said. "We believe Duke can be consistently among the very best in intercollegiate tennis for generations to come. Equally important, we will have a wonderful all-purpose facility for student tennis and recreation. Alice and I believe tennis is a wonderful lifetime sport and we are pleased to help provide these new facilities for all the students."

(Both the Duke men's and women's tennis teams are competing in the NCAA regional tournaments in their quest for national championships. The women, 24-3, meet Oral Roberts in the NCAA first round in Albuquerque Saturday. The men, 22-4, play Charleston Southern in the NCAA first round Saturday at Clemson.)

Sheffield, a 1954 Duke graduate, is president of Compass 21, a private company that is a consultant to corporations and governments on international food distribution. He served as chairman of the Food Industry Campaign Against Hunger and is a past president of Chandler Leigh & Co., a food distribution consulting firm.

Fund raising for the tennis center has been led by Duke alumnus Roger Hamilton, also of Atlanta. More than 20 other donors have contributed to the effort.

Upgrading Duke's student recreational facilities was a priority identified by Keohane shortly after she became president in 1993.

The $20 million Wilson Center now nearing completion will give students around-the-clock access to a large recreational space dominated by a new three-court gymnasium. The new facility also contains three multi-purpose rooms (one dedicated to dance and aerobics), a 10,000-square-foot weight and training area, an indoor jogging track, classroom space, improved locker facilities, administrative offices and a lounge.

The Schwartz-Butters Building, a $12.5 million, six-story addition to Cameron Indoor Stadium, is scheduled to be completed this fall. It will house an academic center for student athletes, men's and women's basketball offices and facilities and a new sports Hall of Fame.

In addition to the new West Campus facilities, Duke completed the $5 million Brodie Recreation Center on East Campus in 1996. The basketball court and bleachers were recently replaced in Cameron Indoor Stadium and additional refurbishment is planned. The Intramural Building was given air conditioning and a new synthetic floor in 1996, the Wallace Wade Stadium football playing field was overhauled in 1996 and more than $1.5 million has been spent in the past four years on new athletic fields on East Campus and improvements to ones on West.

[back to main news page]