Union College Will Build New AdventHealth Complex

Union College, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, recently voted to move forward with the construction of the AdventHealth Complex and Reiner Wellness Center. Some parts of the project will begin during the summer of 2022, and the building should be completed in the fall of 2024, school leaders reported.

“This is exciting news for Union,” Union College president Vinita Sauder said. “We are now one step closer to our goal of providing a greatly improved fitness and wellness facility for our students, employees, and community members.”

Union College publicly launched the Fit for the Future fundraising campaign in June 2021 to raise US$13 million to help fund the project. Currently, more than US$10.8 million has been committed toward the goal.

College leadership worked with construction experts to create building plans to meet the needs of the college, provide for future expansion, and fit within Union’s ability to effectively steward the resources available for the project. The 40,000-square-foot (about 3,700 m2) building connected to Larson Lifestyle Center will contain a field house with multiple sports courts, an elevated walking track, and large strength training and cardio workout spaces.

The project will also provide some needed renovations to the Larson Lifestyle Center building and a new mobility accessible entrance for the nursing program on the upper level.

“We are very thankful for the leadership of Rich Reiner and the rest of our board who believe in this project,” Sauder said. “With their contributions, their ideas, and the vote this week, they have helped to strengthen Union and build an even better place for students to learn and grow.”

Thanks to a lead gift from AdventHealth, the entire facility — which will house the Reiner Wellness Center, the Larson Aquatics Center, the nursing program, and the Health and Human Performance program — will be called the AdventHealth Complex. AdventHealth is a Florida-based health-care system affiliated with Union College’s parent organization, the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The second-largest private healthcare system in the U.S., AdventHealth operates more than 50 hospitals, including in the Orlando, Tampa, Chicago, Kansas City, and Denver metro areas.

Other lead donors for the project include Rich and Lynnet Reiner, Nelnet, Allo Communications, Union Bank and Trust, H&B Communications, Kettering Health, J.S. Lang Enterprises, Mid-America Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and Terry and Paula Tarasenko Shaw.

“This project would not be possible without the generous support of our donors, who have given nearly eleven million dollars so far,” Sauder said. “There is still more to do. I encourage anyone who believes in wellness and in Union College to support the Fit for the Future Campaign.”

The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.