UALR plans to make expansions to the current Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex.
The University Arkansas at Little Rock will build a new baseball field and expand its sports complex, thanks to a donation from the Coleman family of Little Rock, the university announced Wednesday.
Members of the Coleman family, longtime owners and operators of the former Coleman Dairy, will donate nearly eight acres of land in the area of the University Village Apartments and UALR’s Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex, the university said. A previous 10-acre donation by the Colemans in 2010 cleared the way for UALR to build the complex, which it named for the family.
The university did not put a monetary value on the land donation. It is working with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects on the expansion designs.
UALR’s athletic programs go by the moniker “Little Rock.” Its Little Rock Trojans baseball team plays at Gary Hogan Field, an off-campus site that has hosted Little Rock baseball since the 1970s. Plans for the baseball park include seating for about 1,500, the university said. The current facility can accommodate about 1,050 fans.
“Facilities are extremely important for recruiting talented student-athletes and building championship caliber programs,” Athletic Director Chasse Conque in a news release.
Conque said it’s too early to speculate on a time frame for the project or its cost. He said the land donation was necessary to even consider the project.
“Without this gift, we couldn’t take this conversation any further,” he said.
The Little Rock Trojans compete in the Division 1 Sun Belt Conference. Investing in facility improvements is necessary to move the Little Rock program forward, Conque said.
UALR Chancellor Joel Anderson said it will take several years to complete the expansion plans because they are dependent on private donations. Anderson plans to retire in June.
The next step, according to UALR, is the construction of a field house at the current sports complex location, expanding the facility so that it eventually could host all Trojans teams except basketball, volleyball and swimming. The field house would provide locker space, offices, training facilities and meeting areas at a convenient location on campus.
“We’re really pleased now that this latest gift gives us the ability to build a baseball field and stadium there in proximity to other sports, which makes it more convenient for coaches and student-athletes and also reduces maintenance costs,” Anderson said.
Brothers Walt, Bob, Charlie and Cherb Coleman made the land donation. Walt Coleman is a referee for the NFL who worked last weekend’s playoff game in Minnesota.
“For many years, the Colemans were next-door neighbors to the university,” Anderson said. “Their generous gifts of property have made it possible for the university to provide excellent athletic facilities for the student-athletes of UALR.”
Walt Coleman said plans for the most recent land donation moved quickly once the brothers had a conversation with Chris Curry, the Trojans’ baseball coach, at a recent Little Rock basketball game.
Curry mentioned university leaders were discussing possibly squeezing a baseball field onto the current sports complex property.
The Colemans, who still owned land in that area, had been close to selling the land to a different entity but decided to donate the property to help UALR.
“I guess it was lucky that we all ended up at the basketball game and got to talking,” Walt Coleman said. “The timing couldn’t have worked out any better.”
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