An artist's rendering of the Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness with a Quarry Suites building in the background.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Josiah W. and Bessie H. Kline Foundation, of Harrisburg, Pa., has awarded Gettysburg College a $250,000 grant to help fund the construction of a new athletic, recreation and fitness center at Gettysburg College.

The Kline Foundation grant will support a 55,000-square-foot addition to the west side of Gettysburg College's Bream/Wright/Hauser Athletic Facility. The new Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness will include a natatorium with eight competition lanes, a four-lane warm-up pool and 350-seat spectator gallery; a 10,000-square-foot weight and fitness room; multipurpose spaces for aerobics, yoga, Pilates, spinning and martial arts classes; a renovated athletic training room with a Hydroworx therapy pool; and expanded facilities for campus recreation and experiential education programs including a state-of-the-art bouldering and rock climbing wall. Preliminary plans call for the facility to open in fall 2009.

The Center is a high priority for Gettysburg College since more than 80 percent of incoming students are involved in sports and recreation. Nearly 25 percent of the student body belongs to one of the College's 24 varsity athletic teams, and more than three-fourths of students take part in an extensive intramural and club sports program. The Center will ensure that students are able to maintain their active lifestyles while in college.

Gettysburg College has received generous support from the Kline Foundation over several decades. The foundation has provided grants for at least five major capital projects on campus - from the restoration of Pennsylvania Hall in 1970 to the construction of the new Science Center in 2002. In addition, the foundation helped establish the Eisenhower Scholarship in honor of Joseph T. Simpson, a former president of the Kline Foundation.

The Kline Foundation was incorporated in 1952 by Josiah, a real-estate developer, and his wife Bessie exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes. Josiah was a trustee of Gettysburg College from 1959 until his death in 1961. Bessie served in his place from 1962 to 1978. In addition to Gettysburg, the foundation regularly supports several other colleges in south central Pennsylvania.

Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with approximately 2,600 students. It is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. The College was founded in 1832.

Issued: 7/2/08

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