Bryant completes athletic center that collapsed in September, named for board chair, spouse

THREE MEMBERS OF BRYANT UNIVERSITY'S football team, from left, Josh Jefferson, Aaron Gilmer and Brandon Owens, pose in the new Conaty Indoor Athletic Center at the school's Smithfield campus. / COURTESY BRYANT UNIVERISTY
THREE MEMBERS OF BRYANT UNIVERSITY'S football team, from left, Josh Jefferson, Aaron Gilmer and Brandon Owens, pose in the new Conaty Indoor Athletic Center at the school's Smithfield campus. / COURTESY BRYANT UNIVERISTY

SMITHFIELD – Bryant University is dedicating its newly completed athletic center Saturday, named after Sue and William J. Conaty ’67 in recognition of the couple’s $7.5 million donation to the school’s capital fund.

In September construction of the 80,000-square-foot all-season facility was delayed after the structure’s steel beams collapsed, injuring six workers. The building was slated to open in January 2016 and after the setback was rescheduled to May.

Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley thanked the Conatys for their “exceptional generosity.”
“With their significant philanthropy and the opening of the Conaty Indoor Athletic Center, Bryant is clearly a leader in athletic facilities at the Division I level in New England,” he said.

Conaty heralded the opening of the facility as an “unprecedented period in the history of Bryant academics and athletics.”

- Advertisement -

He added: “My wife, Sue, and I are proud to support the university’s bold vision for the future and feel great about playing our part in Bryant’s success.”

During his time at Bryant University Conaty captained the 1967 baseball team and was later inducted in the school’s Hall of Fame. Now chair of the board of trustees and co-chair of the capital campaign, Conaty is a retired senior vice president of General Electric, who once was the human resources manager for more than 300,000 GE employees across the globe.

According to the university, the Conaty Indoor Athletic Center is the largest athletic facility in the NCAA I New England region and features an indoor turf field and coaches’ viewing platforms. The facility is open for use to all 22 Bryant NCAA Division I teams as well as intramural sports.

The new facility, which neighbors the Sue and Bill Conaty baseball and softball complex named in 2012, is part of the university’s $75 million capital campaign, Expanding the World of Opportunity: The Campaign for Bryant’s Bold Future, which will fund the 50,000-square-foot Academic Innovation Center, a separate 78,000-square-foot practice facility, improvements to the Elizabeth and Malcolm Chace Wellness and Athletic Center, and the Bulldog Strength and Conditioning Center.

The dedication will take place at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Bryant campus in Smithfield.

No posts to display