Northern Illinois Receives $3 Million For Indoor Practice Facility

September 19, 2011 /

CHICAGO – Northern Illinois University football coach Dave Doeren showed his appreciation when the people leading the school’s push for an indoor practice facility informed him Tuesday of the $3 million naming gift put toward the project.

“I gave Mike Malone and Jeff Compher and Mark Muhlhauser a giant bear hug,” Doeren said, referring to, respectively, NIU’s vice president of university advancement, athletic director and associate athletic director for major gifts.

Dr. Kenneth and Ellen Chessick’s donation was announced Saturday near the end of the first quarter of NIU’s 49-7 loss against No. 7 Wisconsin in front of 41,068 fans at Soldier Field. It is the athletic department’s largest one-time donation ever received.

Compher said the university will try to gather an additional $7.5 million. There is no schedule for when the university will break ground on the facility.

Compher said the 80,000-square-foot facility, which will be named the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Facility, will be located just north of the Yordon Center on campus. The surface will consist of an artificial turf field and a four-lane track, along with batting cages and a retractable center net.

Kenneth Chessick, a surgeon and attorney who graduated from NIU College of Law in 1984, said he hoped the “much-needed” facility would improve recruiting.

“This is a dream for us,” said Chessick, standing next to his wife. “I’ve been a huge fan of NIU in general, and obviously the athletics. I think it’s phenomenal. What the athletics department does is it raises the excitement and sense of community, the entire enjoyment of a college experience for the students. And Ellen and I are devoted to making every experience better for the students.”

Compher said the university has “talked to a lot of people for a while” about the indoor facility. He first discussed the donation with the Chessicks two weeks ago. The couple talked about it during the weekend when NIU traveled to Kansas before making their offer Tuesday.

“To have this family step up and name this facility, it was the most rewarding day of my professional career,” Compher said. “Because I know what it means to the student athletes. I know what it means to our coaches. The commitments that you make and the things that you want to do, it’s all about who you’re doing it for. And I knew what the result would be when we got this ball rolling.”

Although the university is committed to opening the indoor facility to all athletic programs, football may benefit more than any other.

With practices being held at Huskie Stadium, the football program is susceptible to the weather, which is often unfavorable in DeKalb. Lightning storms caused a several-hour practice delay during fall camp. Spring practices are often held in frigid temperatures.

Soon, Doeren hopes, weather will no longer be an issue.

“Ken and Ellen Chessick stepped up big time for their alma mater,” Doeren said. “To me, my goal is to develop a winning team here year-in and year-out, to recruit great football players and help them become the best football players they can be. Having a facility that will allow us to do that year-round is a key step in being able to develop your talent.

“Our entire winter time is spent on a wood floor. So the things NIU has been able to do with less, this allows us to take a step toward where we want to go as a program.”


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