Washington, D.C. - The Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sports will be dedicated on the Trinity College campus on Saturday, November 23, at 11:00 a.m. on the Trinity Center plaza.

The $20 million, state-of-the-art athletic complex is the largest facility in the nation dedicated to promoting women and girls in sports. In addition to serving Trinity College’s NCAA Division III teams and students, the Trinity Center will provide recreational, fitness and academic enrichment programs to D.C. youth, and to girls and women in particular. The Trinity Center will develop and offer programs through partnerships with a variety of organizations, including the Girls Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, D.C. Scores, D.C. Parks and Recreation, D.C. Public Schools, the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

"Women’s sports is a great enrollment magnet for universities today, and the Trinity Center is vitally important for Trinity to grow and maintain its status as the only collegiate institution in this region specializing in women’s education," said President Patricia McGuire. The Trinity Center has already generated a 40% increase in this year’s freshman class.

The Trinity Center includes a 1,700-seat arena for basketball, volleyball and other indoor sports, which will seat 2,500 for non-sporting events; a six-lane swimming pool and spa; indoor walking track; outdoor tennis courts; a fitness center with a weight/exercise room and dance/aerobics studio; and a competition field for soccer, field hockey and lacrosse.

D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and D.C. Council Member Vincent Orange are among those scheduled to speak at the Dedication festivities. The $20 million athletic facility is part of the economic renaissance of Washington, D.C., particularly in the Ward 5 section in Northeast Washington.

Trinity College has raised more than $10.5 million towards a $12 million Campaign to support the project. The facility is being financed with a D.C. Revenue Bond, with a construction loan from First Union/Wachovia Bank.

The Trinity Center has secured financial support from several corporations, including Chevy Chase Bank, Horning Brothers, KPMG, and Pepco. Trinity College has retained SFX Sports Management Group and Octagon to secure corporate sponsorships; the naming right for the entire complex is $3 million.

Several major foundations have provided grants to support the Trinity Center project, including the Arcana Foundation, Philip L. Graham Fund, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation.

Geier Brown Renfrow Architects and Hughes Group Architects designed the facility. Forrester Construction Company is the general contractor.

Trinity College is a comprehensive university offering educational programs across the lifespan, emphasizing women’s education in the College of Arts and Sciences, while offering professional education for women and men in the School of Professional Studies and the School of Education. More than 1,700 students enroll in Trinity’s degree programs, with thousands more participating annually in continuing education and enrichment programs.

Trinity is a member of the NCAA Division III, and a founding member of the Atlantic Women’s College Conference, with varsity teams in basketball, crew, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and field, and, in 2003, softball, volleyball and swimming.

Trinity is located at 125 Michigan Avenue, N.E., Washington, D.C., one block east of North Capitol Street.

For more information, contact: Ann Pauley, 202/884-9725, home: 703/892-2006, pauleya@trinitydc.edu.