CULVER, Ind.—George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the New York Yankees, a 1944 graduate of Woodcraft Camp, and a 1948 graduate of Culver Military Academy, and his children will return to their alma mater Friday (July 28, 2000) for the dedication of the renovated Steinbrenner Recreation Building.

The Steinbrenners are a three-generation Culver family. George Steinbrenner’s father, Henry, was a 1919 Culver Summer Schools graduate, and each of his children graduated from The Academies: Hank in 1976, Jennifer Swindal in 1977, Jessica Molloy in 1982, and Hal in 1987. Both of his sons and daughter Jennifer are expected to be present with their father for the ceremony.

Steinbrenner will visit the Woodcraft Camp at 4:30 p.m. to address the 603 campers (ages 9 to 13) attending that six-week program. The dedication of the Steinbrenner Recreation Building will follow at 6 p.m. The ceremony and ribbon cutting will be held in the recreation building and will be attended by the 650 13- to 17-year-olds attending Culver Upper Camps.

The dedication program will include remarks by Head of Schools John Buxton and Jim Henderson, chairman of The Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, as well as from Steinbrenner.

The Steinbrenners provided the leadership gift for the three-phase, $5 million renovation of the 76-year-old building, which is the heart and soul of the intramural, extra-curricular, and recreational athletic activity at The Academies.

“The recent renovations and improvements in the Steinbrenner Recreation Building have been a great asset to our athletic program,” Athletic Director Al Clark said. “All of our 56 teams (varsity, junior varsity, and freshman) use the facility at some point during the school year for practices, meets and/or conditioning programs.

“The new floor and the netting have dramatically improved the quality of our practice space and have increased the flexibility we have in using the facility. We have a facility that can host large invitational tournaments in sports such as wrestling, fencing, and basketball as well as a facility that can be subdivided and used simultaneously by various groups and teams,” Clark said.

The three-phase project began in 1996 with the replacement of the original wooden flooring from 1924 and a new banked indoor track (which surrounds a tennis court). Paint, new lighting, and 79 new insulated glass windows rounded out the first phase.

The bulk of this portion of the building is devoted to three full-length basketball courts, each separated by a remote-controlled mesh curtain measuring 21- by 78-feet and extending from floor to ceiling. As a result, three games, or even three different sports, can be played simultaneously without interference.

The second phase involved new tile flooring and the creation of 32 display cases in the southwest hallway of the McMillen Center. The entranceway for this area now designates it as the Denton Athletic Hall of Fame.

The renovation was completed in the spring of 2000 with the renovation to the main entrance and the construction of a portico, replacing the original one removed in the early 1960s. An elevator also was installed to facilitate reaching the lower level, home of the school’s new Siegfried Fitness Center.

Located on Lake Maxinkuckee, The Culver Academies are comprised of Culver Military Academy (CMA) and Culver Girls Academy (CGA), which are boarding and day schools offering a nine-month, college-preparatory curriculum for grades nine through 12.

Founded in 1894, Culver Military Academy is based upon a military-type system used to teach boys self-discipline, responsibility, and leadership. Culver Girls Academy was founded in 1971 and is based upon the prefect system, with girls following a democratic, self-rule operation teaching similar values.

The Academies have an annual enrollment of about 700 students representing 25 countries and 35 states. Nearly 15 percent of the enrollment hails from such countries as Ecuador, Korea, Mexico, the Peoples Republic of China, and Thailand.

In addition to Steinbrenner, other accomplished Culver alumni in the sports world include Tennessee Titans owner K.S. “Bud” Adams ’40, Penske Corp.’s Roger Penske ’50, Bill Koch ’58, winner of the America’s Cup yacht race, Olympian and San Jose Shark hockey defenseman Gary Suter ’82, and 1990 Miss Indiana Basketball Patricia Babcock ’90.

For additional information contact Doug Haberland, director of publications, at (574) 842-8365 or via e-mail at haberld@culver.org.