Athletic facilities focus of fundraising

Bent on augmenting its ability to compete in the ACC and nationally, Georgia Tech announced a $125 million capital campaign Thursday, the centerpiece of which will be a $70 million project to renovate the Edge Center, which is the headquarters for Tech’s athletic department.

At the quarterly board meeting of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, athletic director Todd Stansbury presented renderings of the project — a light-filled space that also would open up to the northeast corner of Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“The idea is that when you walk in, it’s going to reek of excellence and innovation,” Stansbury said. “I believe, ultimately, those are two of our major elements in producing winners.”

T he E dge Center was opened in February 1982 and has undergone a number of interior changes. It remains functional, but hardly sleek.

Other objectives in the campaign are the endowment of athletic scholarships ($25 million), facilities projects for Russ Chandler Stadium and locker rooms for the football and men’s and women’s basketball teams. The campaign, dubbed Athletics Initiative 2020, has already raised $28 million.

Stansbury said the goal of the campaign is to impact recruiting, building better student-athletes and winning.

“(Winning) is our industry,” Stansbury said. “If you look at this institution, that is also the brand and the DNA of Georgia Tech, and I don’t believe that Georgia Tech athletics should be anything but in line with that. And there’s so many people that want to use the rigor and certain aspects of the institute against us, and I just don’t think that’s true.”