McLane gifts help two BGCT schools build football stadiums

New stadium

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WACO (UPDATED)—Drayton and Elizabeth McLane have made leadership gifts for the new on-campus football stadiums at both Baylor University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Both gifts are the largest in the respective schools' histories.

The Waco football facility will be named Baylor Stadium. The gift will lead on-going fundraising to support stadium construction.

New Stadium

Conceptual rendering of new Baylor Stadium.

"We are fortunate to be a family that includes a number of proud Baylor University alumni," said Drayton McLane Jr., a 1958 Baylor graduate. "We believe strongly in the University's distinct and important role as a Christian institution dedicated to academic excellence at the highest level. Our son Drayton III, a 1996 graduate of Baylor, and his wife Amy, and their sons Drayton IV, Brooks and Walker, as well as our son Denton, who graduated from Baylor in 1999, and his wife Amy, and sons Jeff and Jake, join us in joyfully making this gift to Baylor.

"As a family, we wanted to do something that would shine a light on the University we love, while enhancing student life at Baylor and impacting positively the city of Waco and Central Texas. This is an incredible time to be a Baylor Bear and all the McLane family is excited to part of the momentum that is leading Baylor to new heights," he said.

"Throughout our 167-year history, at what we now recognize as signature moments, visionary leaders have stepped out boldly to help propel Baylor and advance important university objectives," said Baylor University President Ken Starr.

"We recognize that we are living in a remarkable time in the history of Baylor athletics, and we are blessed to have loyal, courageous and generous friends in Elizabeth and Drayton McLane, and their family, who have stepped forward to encourage all of us to take hold of a rare opportunity for our football program. Their significant leadership gift will secure Baylor's position among the nation's elite collegiate athletics programs, while providing our alumni, students and student-athletes a game day experience like none other in Baylor history," he continued.

 The new on-campus Baylor Stadium is expected to be built on a 93-acre site on Interstate 35, one of the nation's busiest highways, traversed by more than 42 million drivers annually. The stadium will hold 45,000 spectators, with the flexibility to expand to 55,000 in the future. It also will feature a bridge crossing the Brazos River and connecting the stadium to the campus, canopy shading for half of all seats throughout the day, open concourses with views directly into the stadium, suites, loge boxes, indoor and outdoor club seating, designated seating for Baylor students and the Baylor band, and an event center and Stadium Club for year-round use.

UMHB STadium


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University of Mary Hardin-Baylor broke ground Feb. 3 on construction of its new football stadium and student union building.

"We are extremely grateful, humbled and honored by the McLane family's generous lead gift for the new on-campus Baylor football stadium," said Bears' head football coach Art Briles. "Their love and passion for Baylor is truly incredible, and this gift will impact not only Baylor football, but our great University, well into the future. The vision shown by both the McLane family and our University leadership will ensure continued success for our football program. I look forward to leading the Bears out of the tunnel and onto the field of the new Baylor Stadium."

 Baylor's Director of Athletics Ian McCaw also expressed his appreciation. "We are deeply indebted to Drayton McLane and his family for this generous leadership gift. Drayton's vision and passion to develop a state-of-the-art, on-campus football stadium at Baylor will have a powerful and lasting impact on the football program, the Univer-sity, Waco and Central Texas," McCaw said.

 The Baylor football team completed a record-setting year in 2011, finishing 10-3 and No. 12 in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and 13th in the AP poll, the highest final rankings since 1986. Baylor's Valero Alamo Bowl championship team set or tied 129 school records, while Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award in college football presented to the nation's best player.

 Baylor football has been a mainstay on the Texas collegiate football landscape having played its first football game in 1899 at Carroll Field, an on-campus field adjacent to the university's academic buildings. Baylor played the majority of its home football games on campus until 1936, when it moved into the newly built Waco Stadium, where it played through the 1949 season. In 1950, the Bears moved into the new 50,000-seat Baylor Stadium, later named Floyd Casey Stadium, about four miles from campus, and has played there ever since.

 With a successful spring fundraising campaign, the stadium project could be completed in time for the first game in fall 2014.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor broke ground on its new stadium Feb 3, with construction to begin this spring, and plans call for the project to be complete in summer 2013.

The stadium will be the first permanent home for the Crusader football team, which has played at Belton High School's Tiger Field since its inaugural season in 1998. Crusader Stadium will hold 8,000 to 10,000 spectators and will include a press box, locker rooms, meeting rooms, suites for entertaining university guests and a high-definition video board. The stadium has been designed in tandem with a three-story student union building.

"The university has been richly blessed by the friendship and generosity of the McLanes for many years, and we could not be more grateful to Elizabeth, Drayton, and their family for making this transformational gift," UMHB President Randy O'Rear said.

 


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