Oklahoma Baseball: OU Announces Major Gift to Stadium Upgrade Project

Brian and Kim Kimrey have upped their pledge to improve L. Dale Mitchell Park to over $5 million, Oklahoma announced on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma baseball program has received another notable gift toward the project to upgrade L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Brian and Kim Kimrey from Bartlesville, OK, have pledged a second gift to the baseball program, elevating their gift to the program to over $5 million.

The Kimrey family initially contributed $1.1 million to the program in February of 2020. But now they’ve massively added to that number.

Their donation has been upped to $3.1 million, and the Kimrey’s have announced they will match every other donation dollar to the project up to an additional $2 million, bringing their total gift to $5.1 million.

“This additional gift from the Kimrey family propels our goals for our baseball program forward,” OU Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione said in a press release. “Their generosity is exceptional as these facility enhancements will create immense opportunity for our student-athletes and fans. We know the best is yet to come for Oklahoma Baseball and we have a deep appreciation for this significant contribution.”

A longtime baseball fan, Brian Kimrey said the decision to financially back the OU baseball program was quite simple.

“Supporting Oklahoma Baseball was an easy decision for our family – the way our student-athletes and coaches represent the University of Oklahoma makes us proud to be Sooners,” Brian Kimrey said in the release. “Improvements to our facility are paramount for the team to have every opportunity to succeed and we hope others will join us by investing in the baseball stadium project.”

The project to upgrade L. Dale Mitchell Park will touch every aspect of the complex from the fan seating to the locker rooms, training rooms, coaches’ offices and team meeting areas, are well as a top-of-the-line performance and player development center.

“Our philosophy within our program is you have to first carve your name on a student-athlete’s heart before you can carve it in marble,” OU head baseball coach Skip Johnson said in the release. “Brian and Kim have etched their names in the hearts of our team and shared in our belief that Oklahoma Baseball can be a perennial winner on the national stage.”

Including the $2 million matching portion of the gift, total contributions to the upgrade project will exceed $10 million. The total cost fo the project is estimated at around $30 million. 

---

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!

Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!

Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.