Excitement surrounds opening of UVA’s Harrison Family Olympic Sports Center

By Jerry Ratcliffe

When University Hall was imploded to make room for progress in Virginia athletics’ master plan, eight Olympic sports programs were displaced and have been operating out of trailers ever since. Until this week, that is.

On Thursday evening, UVA officials and donors cut the ribbon on the new Harrison Family Olympic Sports Center, a $75-million, state-of-the-art home for many of the department’s Olympic sports teams. Connected to the McCue Center, the project included renovation of McCue, as the Harrison Center was kickstarted by a $25-million lead gift from the family of the late David and Mary Harrison.

As Kevin Miller, executive director of the Virginia Athletics Foundation, pointed out, despite not having a home, those eight displaced sports programs still aspired to greatness, claiming two national championships (men’s lacrosse in 2019 and 2021), five individual national titles, eight NCAA Final Fours and 10 ACC championships.

Athletics director Carla Williams pointed out that it had been a more emotional few days leading up to Thursday’s ceremony than she had expected after giving some of the Olympic sports athletes a sneak peek at the facility.

“Seeing the expressions of joy, excitement and immense gratitude,” Williams said of the reactions she experienced.

The Harrison Family Center will house UVA’s men’s and women’s track & field teams, men’s and women’s cross country teams, men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, men’s and women’s soccer teams, field hockey and rowing programs, although Williams said all 27 of the department’s teams will benefit from the new and renovated building.

Those eight programs will have locker rooms, meeting rooms, lounges, sports medicine, sports nutrition, equipment, coaching staff offices, and outdoor terrace in addition to a 12,800 square feet weight room and cardio space with more than 100,000 pounds of weightlifting equipment. The weight room is located on the bottom of the four-floor facility and where the former Virginia football locker room was housed.

“This facility will transform the student-athlete experience for years to come,” Miller said.

Williams delivered special gratitude to two of the chief fundraisers for the project, Barry Parkhill and Gerry Capone.

UVA women’s soccer coach Steve Swanson, who has led that program for the past 26 years, was elected by the Olympic coaches to speak in appreciation to the donors and the university.

“Everything we do as coaches and student-athletes will be enhanced by this facility,” Swanson said. “Mrs. Marjorie Harrison Webb, I don’t know you, but I already love you.”

Swanson was speaking to the president of the Harrison Foundation, who explained her family’s involvement in the project.

“It’s not because our father played on the football team in the 1930s,” she said. “It’s also not because our brother, David, was on the UVA lacrosse team in the 1960s. It’s all because a few years ago, we had a meeting with Jim Ryan at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond to discuss how the Harrison Foundation was going to handle future gifts to the University.”

Harrison Webb said that the former UVA president presented the argument for the Olympic Sports center.

“To us, it seemed, for lack of a tagline of our own, a great and a good concept, so we signed on,” Harrison Webb said. “We’re proud to be a small part of the continuing success of every sport at UVA.”