Campbellsville University was founded in 1906 as a junior college and started with just a few buildings. Since 1959, CU has become a university with approximately 90 facilities and plans are for the institution to continue to grow and develop in the future.
CU Athletic Director Jim Hardy has witnessed how much the university has grown since he started working there in 2013.
“Campbellsville has changed a lot in the past 10 years,” Hardy said.
CU’s facilities plan, “Project Horizon” consists of the expansion of the athletic complex to 27 acres of property near the main campus. This plan was released at the end of August 2023. The facilities include softball, track and field and tennis complexes.
“This plan has been drawn up by our architect and put together,” he said. “We hope to have this complex in the near future.”
When completed, this will be the first time CU has its own softball field and track and field facilities. The plan includes two more tennis courts, four for women and four for men, with walkways in between. The current tennis courts might be made into pickleball courts, or they could be torn down and used for more dorms or parking.
“We want to start this project as soon as we have enough money to afford it,” Hardy said. “The biggest issue here is money, that is why we are looking for donations and people who want to invest in it.”
Another piece of the plan is to add a bigger weight room that all teams and athletes would have the opportunity to use. The weight room would be spacious enough for athletes to do other types of conditionings such as sprints and foot work.
“We want to plan it appropriately, with time and using the space the best we can,” Hardy said.
In addition to the athletic complex, there are some changes in store for the Chick-Fil-A on campus.
Several weeks ago, CU students received an email stating that the Chick-Fil-A express will temporarily be closed for renovations and improvements from Nov. 1, 2023 through March 6, 2024.
“We are going to do some renovations to improve our students and customers’ experience,” said Jon Birney, dining hall director.
CU administration knows that the Chick-Fil-A facility is one of students’ favorites, and they are excited about the positive changes and upgrades to the facility.
“We are going to have new equipment and keep the same place,” said Birney.
Donna Hedgepath, CU academic affairs vice president, said there are many plans for the future of Campbellsville University. In August 2022, the construction of a new welcome center started, which will be a place for students to gather and will also include classrooms and space for admissions, counselors, communication and international offices. There will be a space for banquets and other special events.
“The Heilman Welcome Center is almost finished,” said Hedgepath. “We hope we can move to it in January or February of this coming year.”
According to Hedgepath, another exciting project they are working on is a new school of business building located on the main campus.
“We raised most of the money and received some grants,” said Hedgepath. “We hope to start preparing the site during the 2024-2025 academic year, but plans are still going on.”
If possible, Hedgepath said CU hopes to create a welcoming entrance to the university, expand and improve the art and music buildings and the theater space. But those plans aren’t set in stone yet.
Additional plans involve Clay Hill, which is a forest CU owns close to the main campus where classrooms and space for animals are going to be built. It is also going to be a space for high school students to visit.
“We are building a facility out there that is going to highlight our environmental science,” said Hedgepath.
CU administration also plans to address students’ concerns about housing and dorms. CU continues to grow and every day there are more and more students.
“We are looking at continuing to build new dorms in the next two years,” said Hedgepath. “I know that what we have now is old, that is why we are working with campus planners to set everything up and prepare it to flow well. We are not ignoring students’ concerns and we are working to improve facilities.”
