Entered by crossing a wooded canyon on a 200-foot-long bridge, the
Coleman H. Wheeler Sports Center, home of the George Fox Bruins
volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams, is a natural
environment for sports.
The sports center was designed by noted architect Pietro
Belluschi to sit unpretentiously alongside tree-shaded Hess Creek
canyon. Built using gifts from prominent lumbermen, the building
features a two-level oak parquet lobby and a large window area
overlooking the adjacent natural terrain.
Completed in June 1977, the $2.7 million, 55,000-square-foot
complex is the university's largest building. It contains the James
and Lila Miller Gymnasium, the Bruins home court, with a total
seating capacity of 2,750.
The Wheeler Sports Center features a 116- by 174-foot gymnasium
with three full-length basketball courts, three volleyball courts,
and 10 badminton courts. The ceilings are 32 feet above the
hardwood maple floor.
The building may be entered on two levels. The east-side ground
level is accessible from the parking lot by crossing the
footbridge. The on-campus community enters on the west-side second
floor.
Contained on the upper level are a staff room, multipurpose
room, classrooms, and athletics administration and faculty offices.
A 1,500-square-foot weight room was remodeled in the summer of
1993. The lower level contains a concession area, dressing rooms,
team rooms, laundry, equipment-issuing room, and storage space. An
east wing of the building houses two racquetball courts.
The center is named for long-time Oregon lumberman Coleman H.
Wheeler, former chairman of the board of Willamette Industries. The
gymnasium is named for James Miller, former George Fox board member
and president of Cascadia Lumber Co., and his wife, Lila.
