Some say night games ruined Wrigley Field in Chicago, but baseball games in the evenings may mark a rebirth for TCU baseball. When the $7 million lighted facility is complete — about half the funds have been raised — it will sport a cantilevered roof, 3,500 seats, luxury seats, locker rooms, batting and pitching cages, training rooms, a press box and field office for TCU’s head coach. Site work could begin as early as the summer. The stadium is bounded by the Bayard Friedman Tennis Center to the north, the Lowdon Track to the west and the Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium to the east. Home plate will be on the northwest corner of this space, placing the right-field fence parallel with Berry Street.

A 1998 survey determined that nearly 92 percent of TCU’s students participate in the University’s recreational sports programs, more than 75 percent logging more than three hours a week of sport or exercise. Those statistics, say campus planners, are just one reason for the $27.5 million expansion of the student recreation center.

“The University has made a commitment to be a residential campus,” said Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs. “Part of a successful residential campus is to provide quality-of-life facilities.”

Preserving the Rickel name in its administrative suite, the improved center will expand the old building from 146,000 feet to 202,000 feet. New features will include five gyms, a larger weight room, a cardio room, indoor jogging trail overlooking five racquetball courts, an outdoor recreational pool, even a climbing wall. Other improvements will include new quarters for the kinesiology department, the TRIO programs, the Adams Writing Center and the Intensive English Program.