University leaders, core project donors and key stakeholders in Athletics and Physical Education celebrated the kickoff of the Meinig Fieldhouse project Oct. 19 with a groundbreaking ceremony as part of Cornell’s Trustee-Council Annual Meeting weekend.

“Athletics, physical education and health are absolutely core priorities for Cornell,” said Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff. “So when this project emerged, it wasn’t a question of if we should do it, but a question of how we would do it.”

Credit: Ryan Young/Cornell University

The $68.7 million project includes the construction of both Meinig Fieldhouse, named in honor of the late Peter C. Meinig ’61, former chairman of the Cornell Board of Trustees, as well as a separate outdoor turf field. Both will be located on Tower Road. The project also includes relocating Cornell’s field hockey facility to the Game Farm Road complex. Construction on the fieldhouse is slated to commence in November.

The new facilities will significantly increase recreation space on central campus for all students, part of the ongoing commitment to the Okanagan Charter that identifies Cornell as a health-promoting campus. The indoor fieldhouse will also enhance the ability of varsity athletics to recruit top student-athletes, train in all seasons in safe and consistent environments, retain high-level coaches, and even compete at home in otherwise unplayable outdoor conditions.

“We know without a doubt that thousands and thousands of Cornellians will benefit from these increased opportunities because we know activity, movement, being able to exercise – these are cornerstones to student well-being, and it will serve our students very well in their quest for holistic wellness," said Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life.

From the earliest conversations about the project more than a decade ago, a core group of donors­ – Anne Meinig Smalling ’87, Richard L. “Rich” Booth ’82, Richard S. “Dick” Emmet II ’94, Alex Hanson ’87 and Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Kraig Kayser, MBA ’84 – have been key in advancing this project.

“This has been a team effort through and through,” said Nicki Moore, the Meakem Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. “This marks a pivotal moment for us – a beginning of a new era of competitive excellence, community building and supporting wellness.”

Pete Meinig, who died in 2017 at age 78, was chairman and former CEO of HM International Inc. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a privately owned manufacturing and management company. Among his accomplishments as Board of Trustees chair from 2002-11, Meinig oversaw the creation of the West Campus living and learning communities and numerous other building projects aimed at improving the student and faculty experience.

In 2015, the lead gift from the Meinig family endowed the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, expanding and elevating what had been a department into a school within Cornell Engineering.

Jeremy Hartigan is senior associate director of athletics for communications.