Building Name: Richard J. Currie Center
Other Names: Currie Center
Civic Address: 15 Peter Kelly Dr.
Sod Turning: 26 June 2008 by Allison McCain and Richard Currie
Cornerstone Laying: June 2008
Opened for Use: 18 May 2011
Official Opening: 7 October 2011
Architect: Bregman + Hamann Architects, Sasaki Associates, ADI
Named for: Dr. Richard J. Currie, UNB Chancellor, 2003 - present, who donated $21 million to the construction of the building. Born in Saint John, NB and beginning studies at UNB in 1955 as a Beaverbrook Scholar, Currie became the chair of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. and an enthusiastic supporter of UNB.
Renovations/changes/additions: An unveiling of the re-created 1948 war memorial mural originally painted by renowned Canadian artist Fred Ross in the performance court of the Center took place 27 June 2011. The new mural in the Currie Center was painted by Amy Ash, Sara Griffin and Fred Willar under the direction of Fred Ross.
Notes: The Currie Center is a 12,927 square metre, five storey building that houses state-of-the-art performance and testing equipment, including a human performance lab, a 161-metre indoor track, and a sport medicine clinic. It features a convertible Performance Hall and two full-size gyms, as well as classrooms for the Faculty of Kinesiology. The Currie Center is home to Campus Recreation and UNB's Varsity Reds volleyball and basketball teams. The building and parking lot sits on what used to be known as Buchanan Field, which was used for football games and later on as a practise field for university teams.
Buchanan Field was named for Hon. Norman Bruce Buchanan from St. Stephen, New Brunswick who was a player on the nine times champion St. Stephen-Milltown baseball team from 1931-1939 and was inducted with the team into the NB Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. He attended UNB for one year and was a veteran of World War II, being awarded the Military Cross three times for his heroism and skill in action.
Source(s):
- Leroux, John. Building A University: The Architecture of UNB. Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2010.
- UA Case 123; Section 3, Box 1; Currie Center.