Among the others Williams singled out in her remarks was a former UVA president.
“I’d also like to thank my friend Jim Ryan for his support of this facility and all of UVA Athletics during his time as president, which coincided with a tumultuous period for college athletics,” Williams said. “Most of all, I want to thank every donor who contributed to these efforts, especially the Harrison family, whose generosity has touched nearly every part of the University and now spans multiple generations.”
The official groundbreaking for a new Olympic sports facility was held on June 1, 2023. Some 28 months later, the Harrison Center opened. All 27 teams at UVA will benefit from the facility, Williams said.
“I’m glad this day is here,” Swanson said before the ceremony, which preceded his team’s ACC showdown with Duke at Klöckner Stadium. (The No. 5 Cavaliers defeated the No. 2 Blue Devils 3-1.)
For many years, the locker rooms for UVA’s field hockey, men’s cross country, men’s track & field, women’s cross country, women’s track & field, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and rowing programs were in University Hall.
U-Hall deteriorated significantly as it aged, however, and by the end of 2018 those eight programs had moved into locker rooms at the new Training Grounds, a group of trailers set up on the site of the former Onesty Hall parking lot. (U-Hall was demolished in the spring of 2019.)
Also based at the Training Grounds were units devoted to strength and conditioning, academic advising, sports nutrition and equipment. All are being relocated to the Harrison Center.
During their seven years at the Training Grounds, the eight programs combined to capture two NCAA and 10 ACC team championships, win five individual NCAA titles, and reach eight Final Fours.
“Unbelievable examples of resilience and a defiant resistance to making excuses,” Williams said.
While based in the Training Grounds, the men’s lacrosse program won NCAA titles in 2019 and 2021. The Harrison Center will help the Wahoos in their pursuit of the program’s eighth NCAA championship, head coach Lars Tiffany said Thursday.
“What I’m most excited about is how together we will now be,” Tiffany said, “the interaction with the student-athletes of our team. We certainly see them a lot, but now we get to them more. Now we get to bump in them in the hallways as they’re going from the training room back to the locker…