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EDWARDSVILLE — A backhoe leaned awkwardly on a fresh mound of brown dirt, shifting more ground beneath it as work was already well underway when Wilkes University Student Affairs President Paul Adams quoted Winston Churchill: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards they shape us.”

Adams and a few dozen others gathered in the Munson Fieldhouse at the Ralston Athletic Complex to officially launch an $8 million upgrade to the facility, three-quarters of which will go to the work being done by the backhoe outside.

Wilkes’ outgoing President Pat Leahy said $6 million will pay for an expansive new multipurpose field complete with a new soccer field and baseball diamond.

Leahy thanked alumnus Bob Bruggeworth for a generous donation toward that project, and said the field is being named after the class of ’83 graduate’s mother: Bruggeworth Field.

“It is a family affair for Bob,” Leahy said, noting two brothers also attended Wilkes.

Bruggeworth majored in electrical engineering and is now president of Quorvo, a global communications chip maker based in North Carolina.

The field and related facilities are slated to be finished by October, in time for homecoming weekend. Phase II of the project looks to do $2 million in additional improvements that include a new entrance driveway, parking lot, and pedestrian walkway along Northampton Street approaching the athletic facility. Currently the stretch from Kirby park to the center and beyond is grass, mud or gravel along the curbs.

That work is funded in part by a grant from the state Multi-Modal program. Leahy has often touted the University’s ability to match state money in making such improvements as an example of private-public financing that can benefit the community. He also related a phone call with State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, in which Yudichak faked alarm at something he hadn’t seen in seven years: “He told me ‘It’s the first time in seven years I don’t have a grant application from Wilkes on my desk’,” Leahy said.

Leahy also pointed out Saturday ends the fifth year of a six-year strategic plan to spend $100 million on campus improvements. Other projects were the Cohen Science Center, a new home for the Sidhu School of Business, the new Karambelas Media and Communication Center, relocation and expansion of the Sordoni Art Gallery, The Mark Engineering Center and the outdoor Gateway project that helped unify the campus with walkways and revamped the Fenner Quadrangle.

Never one to stop fishing for donations he as so successfully garnered in his seven years heading the school, Leahy concluded “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention there are still plenty of opportunities of giving. There are all kinds of naming opportunities at this complex.”

Leahy’s tenure is down to two months. He is leaving July 31 to take the helm at Monmouth University in New Jersey.

Which means he won’t be around — or at least, won’t be a Wilkes employee — when the new field is completed, something soccer player and pharmacy student Hunter Maxwell said he looks forward to enjoying in a homecoming game played “on a brand new field with lights.”

“Hopefully,” he added, “with a “W” against King’s.”

Well, crosstown rival King’s College: The gauntlet has been thrown down, even as the field is being dug up.

An illustration displayed at Thursday’s press conference depicts how Bruggeworth Field will look when completed.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL053119Wilkes-Field4-2.jpg.optimal.jpgAn illustration displayed at Thursday’s press conference depicts how Bruggeworth Field will look when completed. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Paul Adams adresses the media at a press conference announcing the new Bruggeworth Field at Wilkes University. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL053119Wilkes-Field1-2.jpg.optimal.jpgPaul Adams adresses the media at a press conference announcing the new Bruggeworth Field at Wilkes University. Aimee Dilger|Times LeaderAimee Dilger | Times Leader

This is the site of Wilkes University’s new Bruggeworth Field.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL053119Wilkes-Field3-2.jpg.optimal.jpgThis is the site of Wilkes University’s new Bruggeworth Field. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Wilkes University President Patrick Leahy addresses the media on Thursday at a press conference announcing the multi-million-dollar Bruggeworth Field athletic project.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL053119Wilkes-Field2-2.jpg.optimal.jpgWilkes University President Patrick Leahy addresses the media on Thursday at a press conference announcing the multi-million-dollar Bruggeworth Field athletic project. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader
Alumnus Bob Bruggeworth credited with generous donation

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish