Niagara Purple Eagles Hockey

A NU look for the Gallagher Center

Niagara doesn't have to apologize for the public face of the Taps Gallagher Center.

"It's old but it's a great place to play," men's basketball coach Joe Mihalich said. "People come to games, there's atmosphere."

What the public couldn't see is that behind the scenes the Taps qualified as substandard, particularly the women's basketball facilities.

"We always talked about it, we've joked about it: 'How do we burn this building down without ruining the gym?'" women's basketball coach Kendra Faustin said with a laugh.

The era of apologizing to basketball players and recruits for scant amenities is ending. The Gallagher Center has been shut down for the summer as workers renovate and/or create team areas, locker rooms, coaches offices and the sub-level student lounge. The $3 million project at the 62-year-old facility is scheduled for completion in late summer and will better position the Purple Eagles to recruit against their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rivals.

"If you didn't know the inside world of athletics you would say, 'Why do you need all that stuff to be successful?'" Faustin said. "And I'm not saying you have to have it to be successful. But it definitely helps in being competitive in recruiting and we know that recruiting is the lifeline to your program. I can't stress enough how much it will help us change our culture."

"You see what Canisius has done, they got the film rooms and the locker rooms," Mihalich said. "Marist has spent $3.2 million to renovate their basketball facility. It's what's going on out there. If you want to have a good program you certainly got to have the facilities that the good players want to play in."

"I think Taps is looking down from heaven and he's thrilled that we're finally doing something with the building," said director of athletics Ed McLaughlin. "It's going to be a great change, it really will."

McLaughlin, hired in July 2006, began tinkering with an overhaul of the Gallagher Center after Niagara won the 2007 MAAC basketball championship. Fundraising efforts commenced soon afterward. It would be a painstaking process raising capital, but the need was evident, especially in regard to women's basketball.

"We couldn't watch film in our locker room for example," Faustin said. "It wasn't big enough for our whole staff and our whole team to fit in there. So we would have to go downstairs ... and watch film down there. So here I am, drawing on the board, getting after somebody, and there's some student peering in the window. ... So that was interesting.

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A majority of Niagara’s academic departments and faculty are housed within Arts and Sciences, including: Biochemistry/Chemistry, Biology/Life Sciences, Communications, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, English, History, International Studies, Liberal Arts, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Nursing, Political Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Social Sciences, Social Work, and Theater Studies. On October 8, 2008, Niagara University announced that a million gift, the largest gift in the university’s history, had been made to the College of Arts and Sciences by B. Thomas Golisano, the CEO of Paychex and the owner of the Buffalo Sabres. The gift will fund a new science building, to be known as the B. Thomas Golisano Center for Science. The project is scheduled for completion by 2011. On January 23, 2006, the University announced a gift of million from College of Business alumnus Gerald Bisgrove, Class of 1968. At the time, it was the largest single gift in Niagara’s 150-year history. .5 million of this gift has been appropriated to expand the College of Business facilities. Groundbreaking occurred on this project in May 2006, and Bisgrove Hall was opened to the public in August 2007. The remainder of Mr. Bisgrove’s gift will be allocated to academic scholarships in the College of Business. The College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Niagara’s newest, is an offshoot of earlier tourism programs at the university. The College includes course offerings on tourism, hotel, restaurant, recreation, and sports management. Many students supplement their classroom experience with internships in local hotels as well as luxury hotels around the world. In addition, the College boasts a popular study abroad program in Lake Como, Italy. The College of Hospitality and Tourism Management is ranked 6th in the nation among hospitality programs. In recent years, graduates have a near-100% job placement rate. Faculty members come from around the world and most hold the terminal degree in their field. The College is located on the top floors of the newly-renovated St. Vincent’s Hall, which features a modern hotel atrium and spectacular views of the Niagara River Gorge and Canada. However, beauty of the hall ought to not be the school’s primary focus.

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