Student-athletes break a wall as Gerdin Fieldhouse construction begins

Surrounded by more than 90 prospective student-athletes and their families, Luther College current student-athletes broke a wall to mark the launch of construction on the $24 million Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness.

The event on August 1 marked a historic day for the college in two ways, as it coincided with the inaugural Norse Athletic Prospect ID Showcase.

President Jenifer K. Ward and Director of Athletics Renae Hartl presided over the event.

“Today, we mark the start of renovations of what has been known for a long time as the Regents Center, but thanks to the generosity of our ’92 basketball alumni donor Mike Gerdin; his wife, Nicole; and the Gerdin Family Foundation, it will be known as the Gerdin Fieldhouse,” Ward said. “To our visitors today, as you take your campus tour, keep in mind that you will be among the first generation of students to practice, train, compete and gather with fellow student-athletes at Luther College in this new space.”

With original sections of the 200,000-plus-square-foot facility dating to the 1960s, the project is an extreme makeover of the majority of the interiors. As most of the work involves gutting and rebuilding, a wall breaking was held rather than a ground breaking.

Breaking the Ceremonial Wall

“The new locker rooms, athletic training and rehab area, competition arena and wrestling complex will be a game changer for our Norse student-athletes,” Hartl said. “We wanted to have this ceremony today to kick off the fall for our current Norse, and to show the next generation of Norse what is on the horizon.”

Jack Bell takes a swing of the sledgehammer at the Gerdin Fieldhouse wall breaking ceremony, August 1, 2024.

Three current Luther Norse athletes—all-conference soccer goalie and NCAA qualifying diver Jack Bell of Madison, Wisc.; all-conference and NFCA All-Region first base softball player Riley Sauser of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and 2024 all-American wrestler Walter West of Plymouth, Minn.—took swings at a ceremonial wall which displayed some of the original facility blueprints from the mid-1960s.

“We are extremely proud to have alumni and donors who are stepping up to make this happen,” Sauser said.

“The locker rooms and team room sketches look amazing,” Bell said. “These will be great spaces for our teams to bond, train and have fun.”

“I think I’m most excited about the air conditioning in the arena and the construction of the new wrestling room,” West said. “President Ward, how fast can we get this going so the three of us can start using it?”

President Ward recognized representatives of Opus Design Build, senior vice president for construction Jeff Smith and the Gerdin project manager, Jeremiah Cunningham, who were in attendance representing Opus and their project partner RDG Planning and Design, as well as Luther College’s director of facility services, Jay Uthoff, who will be the college’s project manager.

An artist’s rendering of the north entrance to the Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness.

The opening phase is a new north lobby entrance for the facility, which will include a new concession stand, new restroom facilities for events, and an expanded lobby experience that will salute the spirit of all 21 Luther varsity teams and provide a new home for the athletic Hall of Fame. The second phase of work will renovate numerous team locker rooms and other athletic department support areas.

This academic year, Norse teams will compete a final season on the existing gym floor, with ceremonies tentatively planned to turn out the lights on the historic space in late February. The conversion of the space into an arena configuration, including the Birkestrand Family Court, will begin immediately afterwards.

The first three phases of work will focus on the interior renovations of the former Regents Center. The planned fourth phase is the construction of a new wrestling workout area which will add additional space to the complex.

With work set to begin within the month, fundraising for the project continues, particularly for phases two through four. Leadership gifts made in 2023-24 have given the renovation campaign sufficient momentum to begin.

“We’ve surpassed 60 percent of our newly-expanded fundraising goal and are striving for full funding by the end of 2025,” Vice President for Development Mary Duvall said. “We invite additional investment from alumni and friends who wish to partner with Luther in this transformative facility renovation.”

To learn more about how individuals can help Luther reach its goal, contact the Development Office at development@luther.edu. To see more details of the phases and to watch a video related to this announcement, the entrance rendering and the wrestling training facility concept drawings, go to the Gerdin Fieldhouse Renovation page at luthernorse.com.