As construction on Liberty University’s Champion Center continues, university planners have been hard at work enhancing interior features so the grand facility can better serve visitors, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the community.
The 68,000-square-foot facility located next to the Hancock Welcome Center will serve multiple functions, all with the goal of presenting and preserving the original mission of Liberty University: Training Champions for Christ. The Liberty University Board of Trustees voted to rename the project The Champion Center to more accurately convey the building’s intended purpose. As an extension of the welcome center, The Champion Center will regularly host prospective students and their families. Creative displays, videos, and interactive content will contextualize Liberty’s history and growth in light of its mission and share how Liberty has remained a distinctly Christian institution committed to the Great Commission.
Starting with the Heritage Showcase area, guests will be inspired by the miracle of Liberty Mountain and challenged to become a Champion for Christ. In The Core, an open area with a 360-degree screen, visitors will learn all that Liberty has to offer its students. A separate Rising Flame Theater will feature an 1,800-square-foot, curved screen, stage, a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system, and seating for up to 270. The building will also feature a Path of Champions with interactive displays and videos showing Liberty graduates who are champions in their career fields.
While The Champion Center will serve as a central hub for visitor events, including Liberty’s widely popular College For A Weekend held twice a semester, many of the rooms have been designed to accommodate other Liberty-sponsored events throughout the year, making the entire building a multifunctional space. In addition to the larger gathering spaces, the facility will have seven smaller meeting rooms for guest and student use.
Last fall, the administration identified the need for a dedicated campus event space with seating for about 2,000. At twice the size of the Montview Student Union, Alumni Ballroom, where the university currently holds many of its large events, the new Event Space at The Champion Center will be the largest meeting room of its kind in the Lynchburg area. The room can be divided in half or quarters for hosting smaller events or breakout sessions and could be made available for community use.
Another primary feature of the new center is the Prayer Room, designed solely for prayer and worship. The room will be open to guests and all members of the Liberty community 24/7, year-round, and will be managed and staffed by Liberty’s Office of Spiritual Development. Through streaming technology, students in the online program and alumni all over the world will be able to join with Liberty in prayer. Smaller breakout rooms are also planned for students and families to gather and pray. The Gospel message will be presented in multiple areas of the center, and people who wish to talk to someone about their decision to follow Christ will be pointed to the Prayer Room.
Liberty’s administration also determined a need for more lounge and gathering spaces for current students and faculty and staff, so updated plans call for a 24,000-square-foot rooftop plaza. With stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, fire pits, areas to relax and study, and the first outdoor Wi-Fi-accessible location on campus, the space will be a favorite of students and visitors.
In conjunction with The Champion Center, plans also call for the Jerry Falwell Museum, currently housed at the Jerry Falwell Library, to be relocated to the Hancock Welcome Center, so guests will also have the chance to learn more about Liberty’s founder and the original vision God gave him to establish Liberty University and its related ministries
Visit LibertyChampionCenter.com for more information on opportunities to support the new center and be a part of the mission.
Coming Soon
Residential Commons IV
Liberty’s fourth Residential Commons high-rise residence hall, a 10-story, 166,908-square-foot expansion of Residential Commons III, is in the final phases of construction. The project features a 2-story connector to Commons III and will add 654 beds and two new resident director apartments.
North Campus Parking Garage
A new 7-story parking garage adjacent to the LaHaye Ice Center is expected to be available for student, faculty, and guest use this fall. The project is the third parking garage on Liberty’s campus and will hold 1,500 cars and charging stations for electric vehicles.
DID YOU KNOW?
A study by American Caldwell shows Liberty is the most Googled college in Virginia. Under the heading “A Few Surprises,” the study noted: “In Virginia, home to some of America’s oldest universities like William & Mary, founded in 1693, and the University of Virginia, established by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, Liberty University, founded as a Christian university in 1971, is now the most Googled in the state.”
