JMU Athletics Announces Plan to Renovate Convocation Center

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne announced Monday that construction began today on a renovation of the JMU Convocation Center. Previously the home of JMU basketball, the building will be transformed into a competition venue for volleyball; enhanced indoor training space for track & field; and locker rooms, offices, sports medicine and more for multiple other sport programs.

"The JMU Convocation Center has been an important piece of our facilities footprint for 40 years," Bourne said. "With the opening of the Atlantic Union Bank Center, the Convo presented a unique opportunity to update and improve the overall experience for multiple sport programs. We were able to fit many pieces into the existing footprint of the building with this renovation project, with exciting outcomes for our student-athletes, coaches and support staff."

A bid was recently awarded to Nielsen Builders, based out of Harrisonburg, with construction to commence on March 14 and to conclude in the early spring of 2023. Nielsen was also the original contractor when the JMU Convocation Center debuted in 1982 as the home of men's and women's basketball. The venue hosted its final basketball games in spring of 2020 prior to the opening of the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

The Convo renovation will transform the structure of over 110,000 square feet into the new varsity competition space for volleyball (capacity 900, possibly expandable to 1,300), with an alternate configuration for three practice courts, as well as training space for indoor track & field. In addition, the Convo will be outfitted with locker rooms, coaches' offices, academic advising, sports medicine, strength and conditioning, equipment services and meeting rooms for the sports of cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball and track & field.

Currently, JMU volleyball competes in Sinclair Gymnasium (capacity 1,500) in Godwin Hall, which also presently holds the locker rooms and coaches' offices for each of the listed sports, with the exception of cross country and track and field coaches' offices located under Bridgeforth Stadium. The updates will place each sport in closer proximity and with improved access to its competition venue (soccer, lacrosse and track & field at Sentara Park; field hockey at the JMU Field Hockey Complex on East Campus).

The project follows another already underway at Sentara Park with the addition of game day locker rooms, sports medicine and concessions spaces with anticipated completion of August, 2022.

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