Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex

The Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex opened in September 2010. The new complex contains a field house, an aquatic center, a basketball/volleyball arena, fitness and weight-training facilities, locker rooms, and athletic offices and meeting rooms.

Click on the tabs above to view floor plans, architectural renderings and other multimedia information, or on MORE below to read a full description of the building.

Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex

Athletic success long has been a hallmark of St. Thomas, both as a men's college for almost a century and as a coeducational college and university for more than 30 years. Student participation in varsity, intramural and informal recreational sports has contributed greatly to the St. Thomas experience for many generations of Tommies.

"What we've lacked is a central facility that supports our entire athletic program, including recreational facilities where all students, staff and faculty can exercise and work out," said Dr. Mark Dienhart, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Today, facilities that once were the pride of the institution - and of athletes, in particular - are inadequate both functionally and in their ability to represent St. Thomas proudly to prospective students, visitors and alumni. O'Shaughnessy Hall, which has housed the university's swimming pool, weight room and locker rooms, was built 70 years ago for a student body of less than 900 and is nowhere near the quality of the facilities of many MIAC schools today. Coughlan Field House, which opened in 1981with Schoenecker Arena, contained a 166-meter track – one of only three such undersized indoor tracks in North America – making it impossible for St. Thomas to host conference indoor track meets or to practice in a competition-size facility. A 200-meter track was sorely needed, and is required by the NCAA today in order to host indoor meets.

With an undergraduate student body that has been over 5,000 for more than a decade, St. Thomas desperately needed new athletic facilities for varsity teams and the recreational activities of the university community.

"We were operating with facilities that were suitable for a school of a couple of thousand students and making do as best we can. But we are at a time when making-do is not what St. Thomas is about," Dienhart said.

The three-level Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex officially opened in September 2010.

It features:

180,000 square feet
2,000-seat basketball and volleyball arena
Aquatic center containing an eight-lane swimming pool, diving area, and spectator seating.
Field house with 200-meter, six-lane track.
Beneath the field house are locker rooms, meeting rooms, training rooms and other support facilities.
West wing containing a fitness center, weight room and aerobics rooms on the first floor, and offices, classrooms and labs on the second and third floors

"There's no question that this university wants to be a top-10 Division III program, and if you’re going to be that, you really have to provide the venues and facilities that coaches need to prepare their teams," said Steve Fritz, athletic director. "The new athletic and recreation complex gives our student-athletes state-of-the-art facilities and our recreational users unparalleled fitness opportunities."