Sanford, FL – March 17, 2016 – Wharton-Smith joined with students, faculty and donors of the University of Central Florida’s Athletic Department to cut the grand opening ribbon on the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership, the new headquarters for student-athlete personal, professional and academic development.
Located next to UCF’s award-winning Bright House Networks Stadium, also built by Wharton-Smith, the three-story, 21,700 s.f. facility includes offices, computer labs, conference space, a multi-purpose classroom which will hold 200 students, tutoring and mentoring rooms, study space, and resource rooms.
“This beautiful facility puts us right on par with the top athletic facilities in the country,” remarked Danny White, Athletic Director for the university. Christal Peterson, President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee added, “This building will be bigger than just a place for student athletes, it will be an opportunity to become leaders…thank you for making this our home away from home.”
The center houses UCF’s Student-Athlete Leadership Institute, Academic Services for Student-Athletes, Student Services and Compliance departments, while providing operations space to serve more than 500 student-athletes.
“As longstanding partners with UCF and UCF Athletics, we are proud to have had a part in the design-build delivery of this new building,” said Ron Davoli, President/CEO of Wharton-Smith. “The new Wayne Densch Center will provide great opportunity for student-athletes continuing UCF’s incredible reputation as a top university,” he added.
The new building was made possible by many donors who were involved in the fundraising for the project including a charitable gift of $4 million from the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust, a supporter of UCF Athletics for many decades.
