Regents approve name change for UM auxiliary gyms after donors

Montana’s Board of Regents unanimously voted to approve renaming the Adams Center east and west auxiliary gyms after University of Montana donors Steve and Shirley Nelson during their meeting last week.

The gyms, currently called the East Auxiliary Gym and the West Auxiliary Gym, will be be renamed the Steve and Shirley Nelson Training Center.

Earlier this year the couple donated $1 million in bitcoin to the UM Foundation to go toward the renovation of the gyms, which started this spring. Upgrades include new training and practice spaces for basketball and volleyball, new hardwood floors, scoreboards, shot clocks, practice baskets and air conditioning, UM Athletics said.

Steve Nelson told the Missoulian he was “pleased” the board approved the gyms to be renamed.

The university presented the couple with Community Service Awards in 2022, the release said.

Steve is a UM alumnus graduating with the class of 1970 and the UM Alumni Association honored him in 2023 with the Distinguished Alumni Award. He serves on the Grizzly Athletics National Advisory Board and formerly served on the UM College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council.

The training center will include two full-size wood-floor basketball courts to be used by the Grizzly men’s basketball, Lady Griz basketball and volleyball teams for both practice and training. One gym will be a competition space for volleyball and will host intramural sports as well as local basketball and volleyball clubs.

The project will be complete by the end of September, UM spokesperson Dave Kuntz told the Missoulian in an email on Wednesday. Kuntz said the university is “staggering the upgrade” so athletes can use at least one gym while construction is underway.

The floor is done in the east gym and the baskets will be installed by the end of June, he said. After that is complete, the west gym will be taken offline to install a new floor by the end September. Graphics will be installed throughout the summer including the name on the outside, he said.