UNLV announces two-story, $2.75 million baseball clubhouse
Tim Chambers hasn’t been able to make it to Wilson Stadium much because of back surgery two months ago, the pain being too great.
There was no way, though, he was going to miss Monday’s announcement.
Chambers felt pain as he stood and was in tears, but they were tears of joy, his longtime dream coming true before his eyes.
UNLV announced it was beginning construction on a two-story, $2.75 million clubhouse that officials said would greatly elevate the program. Ceremonial shovels went into the ground after the announcement, and the dirt will be dug for real beginning Monday with the goal of having the facility in place by the 2016 season.
M Resort president Anthony Marnell III is the chief benefactor of the building, which includes a weightroom, two batting cages, locker room, coaches’ offices, players’ lounge, patio overlooking the field and other amenities. It will be called the Anthony and Lyndy Marnell III Baseball Clubhouse.
“We’ve been recruiting on pictures of (the clubhouse) for 2½ years,” Chambers said. “Now we can recruit on the pictures of that reality.”
It was the promise of the clubhouse that helped convince junior second baseman Justin Jones to sign out of Bishop Gorman High School. He also considered Utah and San Francisco, but Chambers showed him the plans of the new building.
“It’s too hard to say no, too hard to pass up,” Jones said. “So the moment I saw that, I’m like, ‘I’m in.’ ”
Because recruiting is the lifeblood of any program, the hope at UNLV is the facility will help attract enough quality players to make the Rebels competitive on a national level.
They got there last season by making a regional for the first time in nine years, but have struggled this year in going 22-28 as the regular season nears an end.
The top programs have these kinds of facilities. Though the building is no guarantee UNLV will become a national power, becoming one without such facilities is almost impossible.
“I believe today’s announcement is going to help us get deep into the NCAA Tournament and be a constant Top 25 baseball team,” athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said.
This has been a long time coming, with Chambers’ vision of this day appearing to him three years ago. UNLV has since changed presidents and athletic directors, slowing down the process, and there was plenty of bureaucratic red tape to fight through as well.
Kunzer-Murphy said the university will contribute about $750,000 toward the project that will take care of utilities, fencing and other supporting elements, but a good chunk of the money has been raised.
“It’s a game-changer for us,” she said.
Marnell stuck with the process until the end. He said supporting UNLV baseball was important to him because of what Chambers meant to him when Marnell played for Chambers at Gorman from 1989 to 1992.
“Through all the years, no matter where I was, no matter what I was going through in my life, whether it was baseball or not, Tim was always there,” Marnell said. “This (clubhouse) is definitely going to help the university win, but at the end of the day, I think it’s really more important to recognize it’s about these (players) up here wearing these pinstriped uniforms.”
Chambers said he fought the urge to think this day would never come, some days being easier than others.
This day finally did come for him, and it was more than worth it to leave home and head to Wilson Stadium, even if the pain in his back made standing difficult as he did media interviews and greeted well-wishers.
“It was just frustrating it took so long,” Chambers said. “It’s not anybody’s fault. ... Everybody’s been very supportive.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.
