Campbell University has received a $250,000 grant from the Cannon Foundation toward the construction of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center, a $30 million arena for sports and cultural events expected to serve Campbell, as well as Harnett County. “The Cannon Foundation has always been supportive of Campbell,” said Lawrence Buffaloe, Campbell’s assistant vice president for Corporate and Foundation Relations. “We’re thrilled that the foundation has approved a grant to assist with our capital campaign. It’s still early in the campaign, but success breeds success, and the Cannon Foundation’s gift is sure to encourage others.” Projected to be completed within the next five years, the John W. Pope Convocation Center will contain 3,000 fixed seats for sporting events with a seating capacity of up to 5,000, and house an additional practice floor for basketball and volleyball, a wrestling room and the athletics hall of fame. The center will also feature a 6,000 square-foot fitness center. The center also represents a valuable resource for Harnett County said Teddy Byrd, chairman of the Harnett County Board of Commissioners. “The convocation center will bring thousands of people and pump millions of dollars into our local economy,” he said. Created in 1943, the Cannon Foundation is one of four charitable organizations founded by the late Charles A. Cannon, one of North Carolina’s most noted industrialists and president and chairman of Cannon Mills Company for more than 50 years. The Cannon Foundation has supported several Campbell projects in the past, including the renovation of the D. Rich Memorial building and the construction of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, the Campbell Hall of Science building, the Rumley Center and the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. The foundation’s first gift helped create the Barden Chair of Government, which was established in 1971 and named for Congressman Graham Arthur Barden, the representative from North Carolina’s Third District to the U.S. Senate for 26 years. Directors and members of the Cannon Foundation Board include William C. Cannon, Jr., president; William S. Fisher, vice president; Frank Davis, executive director of the foundation; Dan L. Gray; William M. Connolly; Thomas M. Grady; Mariam C. Hayes; Robert C. Hayes; George W. Liles, Jr. and Elizabeth L. Quick.Photo Copy: An architectural drawing of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center to be constructed at Campbell University.
Campbell receives major gift for convocation center