Construction of the Hudson United Bank Center, expected to open in January of 2007, is on schedule according to Joseph Rubertone, assistant vice president for facilities administration. The new athletic center will be spread across 200 acres of Quinnipiac’s Sherman Avenue campus.

“Clearly, we are now a Division I academic institution competing for students with some of the most selective universities in the Northeast. It is time to build a Division I-quality athletic facility that will allow us to compete athletically with these same institutions,” said University President, John Lahey, on the Quinnipiac Web site.

The approach to the site from Sherman Avenue is crafted with crimson rocks along the newly paved path. Atop is a breathtaking view of New Haven and the Long Island Sound.

“The building will only enhance the view of the Sound,” Rubertone said. “It is solely a home venue for men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s hockey,” he continued.

The Hudson United Bank Center will also, “house athletic training and treatment facilities, as well as showcase the Quinnipiac University Athletic Hall of Fame,” according to the Quinnipiac website.

The surrounding area of the site will not be disturbed after construction is completed. “We have no intention of things on Kimberly Avenue being disrupted,” Rubertone said.

The 157,000-square-foot new athletic center was made possible through the New Millennium Campaign, which included 25 million dollars towards the construction. Hudson United Bank also donated five million dollars.

The Sherman Avenue Campus will also be home to a 1.5 million dollar Medical Professions Center in the future.

Visiting the site is limited to permission from facilities.

“Technically it is still a construction site,” Rubertone said.