Koret Foundation Gives $1 Million Toward New Athletics Facility
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- San Jose State University's Athletics Program has received a $1 million leadership gift from the Koret Foundation toward the construction of a new strength, conditioning and rehabilitation center, university officials announced Friday, December 22. The building will be named The Koret Athletic Training Center.
"No university athletic facility is used as frequently or as extensively by student-athletes as a strength, conditioning and rehab center," said SJSU Director of Athletics Chuck Bell. "We are delighted that the Koret Foundation has moved us a giant step forward in upgrading this important part of our athletic facilities."
The new facility, to be built at the university's South Campus just north of Spartan Stadium, will contain a 10,000-sq. ft. weight training area, large enough to easily accommodate the needs of the nearly 400 student-athletes in all 16 Spartan sports. The center will also contain a 1,000-sq. ft. rehabilitation and training room area to provide physical therapy and sport-specific rehabilitation services.
Foundation charter-director Richard Greene observed that the Koret Foundation has been a significant supporter of programs and facilities at major universities in the Bay Area for a number of years. "This opportunity to participate in an important and worthwhile project at San Jose State is particularly gratifying," said Greene.
"Athletic programs which complement the mission of major universities have become indispensable elements in university educational endeavors," said Tad Taube, Board President of the Koret Foundation.
The Koret Foundation was created by Joseph and Stephanie Koret, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, whose entrepreneurial vision and work ethic provided the resources that have endowed the Foundation's capabilities. Since its founding in 1979, Koret has awarded more than $200 million in grants to support community projects, educational institutions and organizations active in areas of public policy, arts and culture, and programs for disadvantaged youth and elderly citizens in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Israel.