An average of 450 students use the current fitness center daily. “We’ve maxed out that space,” said a college spokeseperson The project could accommodate 2,600 users.
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Bates College received a $10 million gift toward its $45 million project to update two athletic facilities and build a fitness and well-being center on its Lewiston campus.
The goal is to break ground on May 1.
Fundraising for the project has been underway for over 18 months and support has come from more than 50 donors. With the latest gift, Bates is within $4 million of its fundraising goal of $31 million. Additional financing will come from the college, according to a news release.
The project includes renovation and updates to the Alumni Gymnasium and the Clifton Daggett Gray Athletic Building and construction of an 8,500-square-foot facility to be called the Stoddard Fitness and Well-Being Center, which will bridge Alumni Gym and Gray Athletic Building and will double the amount of fitness space currently available.
The design comes from by Sasaki Associates Inc. in Boston, which has previously worked on areas called the Commons and the Alumni Walk. The general contractor is Consigli.
Longstanding challenge
The gift came from a couple who met at Bates, Jocelyn Stoddard Brayshaw ’88 and Jon W. Brayshaw ’90.
The couple met as part of a group of students that helped start the Bates College Rowing Association.
“Although most of our time was spent out on the water, we remember how challenging it was to find adequate facilities on campus for off-season or inclement weather workouts,” Jon Brayshaw said. “When we learned that the college was interested in building a facility to expand fitness and wellness offerings and to also modernize and enhance Alumni Gym, we both saw a great opportunity to address this longstanding challenge for Bates student-athletes and others who would benefit from greater access to state-of-the-art fitness facilities.”
The Stoddard name refers to Jocelyn’s parents, Donald and Judith Stoddard, who both died in 2021.
Bates has 31 varsity teams plus club and intramural sports and fitness, strength training, yoga and Pilates enthusiasts. An average of 450 students a day use the Davis Fitness Center in Underhill Arena.
“We’ve maxed out that space,” said Chris Streifel, director of capital planning and construction. Factoring in faculty and staff, the number of people using the facilities potentially tops 2,600.
Practice court, yoga studio
The project encompasses improvements to Alumni Gym, originally opened in 1928, such as infrastructure upgrades and renovations to lounges and other spaces and the restoration and reopening of a viewing balcony and the addition of a practice basketball court.
The project will provide new and newly renovated locker rooms for 11 teams: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s alpine skiing, women’s alpine skiing, men’s Nordic skiing, women’s Nordic skiing, men’s soccer, softball and volleyball. There will be a new space for sports medicine.
Stoddard will house coaching offices and program spaces. A second-level studio for yoga and Pilates will overlook Ladd Library Quad. The facility will house spaces to support well-being.
The plan follows a $75 million project several years ago to upgrade science teaching and research facilities, including construction of the 65,000-square-foot Bonney Science Center and modernization of Bates’ older science facilities, Carnegie Science Hall and Dana Chemistry Hall, overall involving nearly 174,000 square feet of space and the largest undertaking of its kind at Bates.
Bates College ranked No. 10 among Maine’s largest colleges and universities in the 2026 Mainebiz Book of Lists. The rankings was based on the college’s full-time undergraduate enrollment of 1,736 in fall 2025.
