Campus Master Plan: Augusta University athletics and kinesiology need room to grow

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Forest Hills Campus is the hub of Augusta University’s athletics programs, and with the addition of a new building as proposed in the Campus Master Plan, more space will be available for academic and sport expansion.

The plan calls for additional square footage that would provide more space for coaches’ offices, additional athletic training for all sports and academic support space. Christenberry Field House is not only home to the university’s basketball and volleyball programs, but also contains offices and academic space for the Department of Athletics and the College of Education’s Kinesiology & Health Science Department.

The additional space is sorely needed to accommodate Augusta University’s more than 250 student athletes, said Director of Athletics Clint Bryant.

“We’ll extend our strengthening and conditioning area, which is so very important in today’s athletic arena,” Bryant said.

The Campus Master Plan also proposes a new parking lot. Bryant believes it would be well utilized when Christenberry hosts sporting events that tend to draw large crowds, such as play-off games or games against school rivals.

“The Master Plan addresses athletics, not just for right now but 10 to 15 years down the road, which a Master plan should do,” Bryant said.

The 269-acre Forest Hills Campus on Wrightsboro Road includes the 18-hole Forest Hills Golf Course and the adjacent University Village residential complex.

The Campus Master Plan details a roadmap for transformational change over the next decade that will strengthen the university’s position as a destination of choice for education, health care, discovery, creativity and innovation. The plan encompasses the Summerville, Health Sciences and Forest Hills campuses and identifies challenges and opportunities in existing physical settings that support the academic, research, clinical and student life domains.

The Campus Master Plan, while comprehensive in nature, is a fluid document intended to maintain flexibility in keeping with an ever-changing university.