Pitt AD Heather Lyke Updates Victory Heights Funding

Pitt Panthers athletic director Heather Lyke said Pitt has raised $12 million dollars toward the Victory Heights project.

PITTSBURGH -- In Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, right next door the bustling home of the Pitt Panthers in the Petersen Events Center, construction crews are hard at work carving out the foundation of the new Victory Heights Arena and surrounding practice gyms, sports medicine facilities, team meeting rooms and much more that will occupy the 240,000 square feet of the multi-purpose building. 

With the project moving from planning to actual production stages, Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke provided an update on how fundraising for the project is going. She said the school has raised just over 5% of the total cost of the project at this time, with the target completion date being fall of 2025. 

"Currently, it is a $240 million project for both the facilities, if you will," Lyke said. "It's one big building but they have separate purposes. We've raised a little over $12 million to date."

Lyke is still optimistic that Pitt will be able to make up more ground through sponsorships and naming rights deals on the arena, sports performance center and courts at the arena. Lyke said the athletic department has some interested parties looking into purchasing those naming rights. She added that it was important to release visuals and get construction underway because it will help drive interest in the project and give potential donors something tangible to latch onto. 

"I would say, historically, when you talk about a vision, it's hard to sell it until they actually see it happening," Lyke said. "So I think today is our opportunity to show all our Pitt fans and the Pitt nation and Panthers everywhere that it is really happening. If you want to be part of it and support our student-athletes in that concept of comprehensive excellence, there's a way to do it."

Lyke is not concerned about the current funding lagging so far behind the full cost of the project with the deadline for completion just over two and a half years away. She is both optimistic about current fundraising efforts and says the school has a plan to service any debt they undertake while completing the project. 

"Two years is enough time to continue to raise money," Lyke said. "We will debt service whatever is not and that's in our financial plan over the next few years."

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