York College announces naming gift for new sport and fitness center
Posted July 19, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As the new sport and fitness center at York College of Pennsylvania nears construction milestones, a York family and the business they founded have decided to commemorate their history in the community by making a $2.5 million gift to the college capital expansion program. Tim Grumbacher, executive chairman of the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., and his wife, Nancy, announced the gift on behalf of the M.S. Grumbacher Foundation, the Bon-Ton Stores Foundation and The Grumbacher Family Foundation. In recognition of the gift, the college will name the new sport and fitness center in their family’s honor as the Grumbacher Sport and Fitness Center. It is the largest single gift in the history of the college.
The new facility is scheduled to open in April 2006. A formal dedication event, open to the community, will be held at that time.
“We are happy to support York College in its current capital campaign. It is a great institution that is vital to the future of our community,” said Mr. Grumbacher and his wife. “This gift is a tribute to my parents and grandparents who founded and developed The Bon-Ton Stores and taught us the importance of giving back to the community; it also recognizes all of those who have been associated with The Bon-Ton Stores and helped to make the company a success over its 107 year history.”
The Grumbacher Sport and Fitness Center will serve as the heart of campus for varsity and intramural sports, fitness training and student recreation, and reflects the college’s holistic approach to education. York College President Dr. George Waldner noted, “Mr. Grumbacher is a long-time friend and former trustee. We are honored to receive this extraordinary level of support from the foundations of such a prominent and accomplished family and business in the York community.”
Board Chairman Tom Wolf added, “The gift from these three foundations is a generous and concrete recognition of York College’s importance to the community. It is also a magnificent compliment to everyone associated with the institution.”
The record-setting donation is in response to the ongoing capital campaign, A Time to Act, which, along with institutional savings, provides the foundation for transformation at York College. The Schmidt Library renovation in Summer 2004 completed the first phase of the transformation, and the groundbreaking for the Grumbacher Sport and Fitness Center in September 2004 marked the beginning of the second phase. Additional projects focus on providing more academic instruction space and building a college theater to accommodate student plays, lectures by distinguished speakers and theater productions. These projects will restructure the current Wolf Gymnasium to create a humanities and social sciences center in the lower section of the gymnasium and a theater in the upper level.
For more information, contact David Salter, director of public relations, at (717) 815-1274.
