Virginia Tech announces the naming of the W.A. and Mae Street Olympic Sports Complex
![A photo of the renovated strength and conditioning room that is part of the W.A. and Mae Street Olympic Sports Complex, located in Cassell Coliseum.](/content/dam/news_vt_edu/articles/2013/04/images/042413-development-olympicnaming.jpg)
Virginia Tech has renamed a portion of Cassell Coliseum devoted to training and locker rooms for multiple teams, in recognition of the generous support of the Street family.
The renamed area includes a new weight room and renovated locker rooms, and is now known as the W.A. and Mae Street Olympic Sports Complex.
A total of $1.6 million was donated to the project by W.A. and Mae Street’s children by blood or marriage: Nicholas Street and his wife Fay Street of Bristol; H.A. Street of Bonita Springs, Fla.; Gaynell Fowler of Grundy; and Dr. Russell Street of Anderson, S.C.
“This project appealed to us because we realized how much it would enhance the experience of so many of Virginia Tech’s student athletes,” said Nicholas Street, an attorney who earned his bachelor’s of general business in 1953 from what is now Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. “Great facilities and the university’s excellent academics are a winning combination when it comes to attracting talent for all our sports programs.”
The Street family’s donations made possible extensive renovations within Cassell Coliseum. Spaces that were substantially improved include the locker rooms for the baseball team, the softball team, the women’s lacrosse team, and the soccer and track-and-field teams for both genders. The donation also funded a complete renovation of the strength- and fitness-training room used by many of those teams, where usable square footage was increased from 2,500 to 7,000 and all new machines were added.
Stacey Vidt, a track team program technical director, said the improvements are certain to help recruiting efforts.
“I think it definitely gives us a ‘wow’ factor,” she said. “These kids are looking at a lot of different schools, and we’re trying to be competitive on all fronts. I think it certainly makes a difference.”
The renovation also made it much easier to schedule optimum workout times for athletes, by providing enough space for multiple teams to train at once, preventing scheduling conflicts that used to arise, said Terry Mitchell, a director of strength and conditioning for the athletic department.
H.A. Street said he and his siblings are lucky enough to be in a position to support causes that are important to them because of the strong emphasis on accomplishment and education that they received from their parents. Members of the family have made many donations to educational institutions, he said, but this is the first facility within one of those institutions to be named for their parents.
“They’re gone now,” added his sister, Gaynell Fowler. “Because of their attitude toward education, this is the greatest thing we can do for them.”