UVa-Wise Convocation Center Will Benefit Region

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise took another leap forward when it broke ground last week on a $30 million
convocation center, the largest single capital project in the school’s history.

The center, which is being built adjacent to the Carl Smith football stadium off Darden Drive in Wise, Va., will seat 3,000
fans for sporting events – such as basketball games – and up to 4,000 for concerts or convocation activities. It will be the
largest center of its kind in Southwest Virginia and rival Viking Hall in Bristol, Tenn., and Freedom Hall in Johnson City,
Tenn., which each seat up to 6,000 visitors.

The work is expected to take two years, a fast-track project, and was funded by state bonds approved by the General Assembly
in April 2008 for building projects at state colleges and universities. Longtime supporters from the Southwest Virginia
legislative delegation – Delegates Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City; Phillip Puckett, D-Lebanon; Bud Phillips, D-Sandy Ridge; and
Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol – were on hand to cheer the groundbreaking and continued growth at the college that was
founded with grit and determination on the site of the former county poor farm.

More than 50 years after opening its doors, UVa-Wise boasts rigorous academic programs, successful athletics and an explosion
of growth on campus with new dormitories, a new center for the arts, new academic buildings and now a new convocation center.
Having larger venues is going to open more doors, for the college and the region. When the answer once was – no, we don’t have
a facility that large, the future answer will be – of course, please come.

The convocation center will include adjustable seating, an intercollegiate-sized basketball court, space for volleyball,
scholastic wrestling, multiple intramural games, locker rooms, offices, concession and ticket stands, meeting areas, study
spaces and more. It will allow the college to host regional sports tournaments, graduation ceremonies, concerts and other uses
not yet envisioned. UVa-Wise Chancellor David Prior is right when he says the center will increase the college’s name and
reputation throughout the region, the state and beyond.

As Kilgore said at the groundbreaking, the center will “bring a lot to the region that we don’t have right now.”

Simply put, the center will increase opportunities, and loyalties.

Teens will come to the convocation center for regional sports tournaments and are likely to want to be Cavs because of the
experience.

This truly is the most exciting period of growth at UVa-Wise in the college’s history.

As Wampler said at the groundbreaking, the center “is something that will live beyond any legacy we have created to date.”