Foundation issues grant for SBU renovation project

J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation Inc. has issued a $300,000 challenge grant toward a $1.5 million campus project at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.

School officials said in a news release another $231,000 would need to be raised by June 30 before the grant kicks in.

If met, the grant funds would be the last piece of funding to renovate Robert W. Plaster Stadium’s football field and track, the release said. With a fall completion date, the university plans to replace the 28-year-old stadium’s competition track and grass field with an all-weather synthetic turf for the football and soccer programs. The project also calls for renovations to the press box and additional lockers in the Plaster Athletic Center.

The Mabee Foundation, which is a Delaware-based not-for-profit corporation and maintains an office in Tulsa, Okla., has contributed roughly $3 million to SBU campus projects, SBU President C. Pat Taylor said in the release. According to MabeeFoundation.com, the foundation was formed in 1948 by John and Lottie Mabee to aid Christian and charitable organizations, higher learning institutions and hospitals.