Virginia Tech Receives $1 Million Donation Towards $4.5 Million Weight Room Renovation

Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech is beginning a $4.5 million renovation on its football weight room in the Merryman Athletic Center. (Rendering courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics)

Fundraising has become a point of emphasis for Virginia Tech’s athletic department, and the Hokies seem to be doing well in that regard. Virginia Tech announced on Thursday that the department had received a $1 million donation towards a $4.5 million project centered around renovating and expanding Virginia Tech’s weight room.

“We are so very grateful for the continued generosity of our Hokie Club members, whether it’s at this leadership gift level or simply getting involved with the Drive for 25,” Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said in a statement. “While we have some fundraising yet to do for this project, it certainly launches us forward and expedites the process. In order for our athletics programs to remain competitive at the highest levels, continued investment in our facilities with an eye to the future is essential. The strength of Hokie Nation is our people, and we appreciate the commitment that so many Hokies have made to ensure that we are giving our student-athletes all the resources they need to be successful academically and athletically.”


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Sponsored by the Hokie Club’s Drive for 25: The “Drive for 25” initiative seeks to increase membership in the Hokie Club to 25,000 members in order to provide student-athletes with scholarships for a Virginia Tech education, as well as the resources necessary to compete athletically at the highest levels. Click here to join us today!


The project will almost double the workout space of the current weight room, located in the Merryman Athletic Center. It aims to increase the total square footage of the space to over 12,300 square feet, up from the current 6,900 square feet space. Virginia Tech estimates the project will be completed by early 2019.

“This gift comes at a great time for us to continue the evolution of our facilities and our momentum as a department and football program,” Tech head coach Justin Fuente said in a statement. “The vision for the new strength and conditioning area, combined with other recent major renovations are just another example of the commitment Hokie Club members are making to ensure that we compete successfully on a national level while reflecting the values of Virginia Tech.”

Virginia Tech
The weight room renovation project will nearly double the square footage of the existing space. (Rendering courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics)

The project includes relocating the refueling station to just outside the weight room, adding more weight racks and stations and fitting rolling doors to speed up the process of moving players in out and out of the space towards the rest of the facility.

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This $1 million donation from a Roanoke, Va. couple who are “long-term benefactors” is the second large donation to be received by the athletic department in recent months. In December 2017, Virginia Tech announced that it had received an anonymous $15.2 million donation for a student-athlete performance center. That donation is the largest ever gift to Tech athletics and the single-largest outright gift ever given to the university. That project, which will cost $16.5 million in total, is expected to be completed by the fall of 2019.

You can read Virginia Tech’s press release on the weight room project here.

3 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Giving back has to be part of the culture. So that I may serve includes giving time and money and effort towards the common goal of excellence.

  2. I want to express gratitude to Charles Phlegar & Whit Babcock who have elevated our “advancement” programs, including Virginia Tech Athletics .. these men and their staffs are demonstrating exceptional leadership in raising the consciousness & philanthropy of Hokies around the globe .. a very special thank you to the benefactors of the new weight room for their generosity and commitment to the Hokie Nation. We should all individually evaluate our own commitment to Virginia Tech in light of such great news.

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