Franklin College Athletic Fields to be Called "Grizzly Park"

Release date: July 19, 2010

Franklin College's new athletic fields will be known as "Grizzly Park," in keeping with the wishes of a major donor to the project. Grizzly Park will encompass a new softball field, new tennis courts, a new facility for track and field events, the existing baseball field, practice fields and new fitness trails for runners and walkers. Construction has begun on the east side of campus, with Grizzly Park slated for completion before Thanksgiving of this year.

Grizzly Park will connect the Franklin College Grizzlies with the life and work of Robert Stuart Eccles, deceased husband of Franklin College Trustee Margot Lacy Eccles. Bob Eccles was a teacher, coach, and administrator at seven independent schools. "From introducing soccer at the Park School (now Park Tudor) in Indianapolis, to serving as headmaster of two preparatory schools in New England," said Franklin College president Jay Moseley, "Bob Eccles was a teacher and coach who led students, colleagues, and institutions by exemplifying the virtues of the scholar/athlete. He would have been proud of the young men and women who will play for Franklin College in Grizzly Park."

After retiring in 1983 as headmaster at Rockland Country Day School in New York, Mr. Eccles pursued a free-lance writing career in op-ed pieces and children's literature and became an accomplished international orienteer, earning a silver medal in the Masters Competition at the 1984 North American Championships and a bronze medal in the 1990 U.S. Orienteering Championship. A humanist who loved introducing young minds to the world of ideas, Bob Eccles held an Extra Class License as an amateur radio operator and in his youth had played professional golf, semi-pro hockey and was certified for bobsled competition. He had a special affinity for Teddy Bears and collected art and memorabilia about bears throughout his life. Robert Eccles died in 1997.

"Franklin College is extremely grateful to Dr. Margot Eccles for this generous gift," said President Moseley. "By honoring Bob in this way she is providing a place for generations of Franklin College Grizzlies to enjoy." Like Bob Eccles's alma mater, Amherst College, Franklin College is an NCAA Division III school where over 30 percent of students participate in intercollegiate athletics. Continuing a remarkable family tradition of service to Franklin College, Margot Lacy Eccles has served as a trustee since 1993. Her father, Howard Lacy, was a trustee from 1953-59, and her mother, Edna Lacy, served on the board from 1965-82 and from 1986-90. Dr. Eccles' gift takes Phase One of the college's "The Future Unfolds" campaign over 60 percent of the way toward its goal. Gifts and pledges to projects in this unique program can be made by calling the Office of Institutional Advancement at (317) 738-8040.

Founded 175 years ago in 1834, Franklin College is a residential four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution with a scenic, wooded campus located 20 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis. The college prepares men and women for significant careers through the liberal arts, offering its 1,047 students 36 majors, including biology, business, education and journalism. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association with the American Baptist Churches USA.