Page 85 - UB Church and Shen Univ
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Volume 6 Relation of U.B/EUB Virginia Conferences to Shenandoah University Dec. 26, 2013
rental space led to a quick decision to rent the space to a bank. The decision further strengthened the
financial base of the banking community in the downtown area and benefitted the University.
Several years later, the Whiting and Kuykendal families offered to sell, with a special bargain
sale arrangement to the University, an entire city block in downtown Winchester on Cameron and Kent
Streets. The area had two large buildings, the Creamery Building,48 and a four-story office building on
20 South Cameron Street, more than 100 parking spaces adjacent to the city parking garage, and two
houses. The University purchased the entire area and renovated the Cameron Street building for its
History and Tourism Center and the University Education School. Later, the Development Office and
the Public Relations Department were relocated to the building. Once efforts were made to sell the
former Dominion Bank Building that had been named for James Bowman, the University renamed the
South Cameron Street Building the Bowman Building, in memory of James Bowman.
The integration of the University into the downtown area began in 1983 with the acquisition of
the John Kerr Building and progressed steadily with purchase of additional buildings. Some community
leaders expressed concerns that too much space owned by the largely tax-exempt university might not
be good for the City, but most parties agreed that bringing students and faculty to the downtown area
was good idea. In every case of commercial use of buildings, the University paid regular taxes to the
City. Currently, the University is considering the possibility of housing graduate students above the
commercial space on the downtown mall. Having the University and City as partners in the downtown
area has proven a good idea and cooperation should continue to grow over time.
g. Campus Housing and Athletic Expansion with the Addition of Football (Late 1990s)
In 1999 the University decided to add NCAA Division III football to the mix of athletic teams
for the campus. This decision was made after many hours of discussion with all the constituencies on
campus. The community supporters of athletics had proposed this action for several years after the
undergraduate enrollment surpassed 1,500 students. Walter Barr, a well-known football coach in the
area, had retired after many successful years in high school and college coaching. The President
commissioned him to do a study of the feasibility of adding this sport at the University. He asked
Mr. Barr to study a successful program, as well as a program that had been started and discontinued, and
to describe the actions and funding needed to start and continue a football program.
When the report was finished and presented to the faculty, staff, students, and trustees, a
consensus emerged very quickly that this action would be in the best interest of the community. The
study also determined that adding football would be financially feasible because of gifts that would
provide the start-up costs and enrollment increases that would boost tuition revenue with the addition of
at least 100 students to the program. Because the football program was non-scholarship based, the
economics worked very well; sufficient gifts were raised for the start-up costs; and Perry Engineering
Company did an excellent job building the field. More than 100 persons donated at least $1,000 to a
new athletic club, and significant gifts were made that helped to pay for the new football field on the
east side of Interstate 81.
Shentel Corporation made a gift of $750,000 to the University for the naming rights to the
stadium and enabled the construction of a first-rate division III football facility. The stadium is highly
visible from the interstate highway and made the naming gift prove attractive to the Shentel Corporation,
48 The Winchester District Superintendent of the Virginia Conference, The United Methodist Church, continues to lease
space in the Creamery Building today. —The Editor.
Davis on History of S.C., 1982-2008 75
rental space led to a quick decision to rent the space to a bank. The decision further strengthened the
financial base of the banking community in the downtown area and benefitted the University.
Several years later, the Whiting and Kuykendal families offered to sell, with a special bargain
sale arrangement to the University, an entire city block in downtown Winchester on Cameron and Kent
Streets. The area had two large buildings, the Creamery Building,48 and a four-story office building on
20 South Cameron Street, more than 100 parking spaces adjacent to the city parking garage, and two
houses. The University purchased the entire area and renovated the Cameron Street building for its
History and Tourism Center and the University Education School. Later, the Development Office and
the Public Relations Department were relocated to the building. Once efforts were made to sell the
former Dominion Bank Building that had been named for James Bowman, the University renamed the
South Cameron Street Building the Bowman Building, in memory of James Bowman.
The integration of the University into the downtown area began in 1983 with the acquisition of
the John Kerr Building and progressed steadily with purchase of additional buildings. Some community
leaders expressed concerns that too much space owned by the largely tax-exempt university might not
be good for the City, but most parties agreed that bringing students and faculty to the downtown area
was good idea. In every case of commercial use of buildings, the University paid regular taxes to the
City. Currently, the University is considering the possibility of housing graduate students above the
commercial space on the downtown mall. Having the University and City as partners in the downtown
area has proven a good idea and cooperation should continue to grow over time.
g. Campus Housing and Athletic Expansion with the Addition of Football (Late 1990s)
In 1999 the University decided to add NCAA Division III football to the mix of athletic teams
for the campus. This decision was made after many hours of discussion with all the constituencies on
campus. The community supporters of athletics had proposed this action for several years after the
undergraduate enrollment surpassed 1,500 students. Walter Barr, a well-known football coach in the
area, had retired after many successful years in high school and college coaching. The President
commissioned him to do a study of the feasibility of adding this sport at the University. He asked
Mr. Barr to study a successful program, as well as a program that had been started and discontinued, and
to describe the actions and funding needed to start and continue a football program.
When the report was finished and presented to the faculty, staff, students, and trustees, a
consensus emerged very quickly that this action would be in the best interest of the community. The
study also determined that adding football would be financially feasible because of gifts that would
provide the start-up costs and enrollment increases that would boost tuition revenue with the addition of
at least 100 students to the program. Because the football program was non-scholarship based, the
economics worked very well; sufficient gifts were raised for the start-up costs; and Perry Engineering
Company did an excellent job building the field. More than 100 persons donated at least $1,000 to a
new athletic club, and significant gifts were made that helped to pay for the new football field on the
east side of Interstate 81.
Shentel Corporation made a gift of $750,000 to the University for the naming rights to the
stadium and enabled the construction of a first-rate division III football facility. The stadium is highly
visible from the interstate highway and made the naming gift prove attractive to the Shentel Corporation,
48 The Winchester District Superintendent of the Virginia Conference, The United Methodist Church, continues to lease
space in the Creamery Building today. —The Editor.
Davis on History of S.C., 1982-2008 75
