Workout With a View

Fall 2016
By David Ruth

THE BRIAN PATTERSON SPORTS PERFORMANCE CENTER, which opened in August, helps athletes keep their goals in sight. The 60,000-square-foot building features a glass wall that affords a panoramic view of the football stadium. The $33 million complex not only provides a new home for Rice football players, with lockers, lounges and meeting facilities, but also provides strength and conditioning and sports medicine facilities for all Rice student–athletes.

“This investment is what we do at Rice,” said Rice President David Leebron. “The facility is about our players. It is for our players. The first investment (renovation) that we chose to make here in the football stadium was improving the opportunities, care and experience of our players.”

The sports center also includes a feature for the fans: a new Daktronics video display, a unique application of free-form LED elements in front of a speaker system, which replaced the old scoreboard. Senior Ijeoma Ugwunze, a thrower for women’s track and field, is seen here enjoying a workout with a view. HKS, the firm that built AT&T Stadium (formerly Cowboys Stadium) in Arlington, Texas, was the architect. Former Rice football letterman Brian Patterson ’84 provided the naming gift.