SBU receives donation from Plaster Foundation

The Robert W. Plaster Foundation has submitted a donation to Southwest Baptist University, continuing the support of the school's football stadium named after the organization's late founder.

The six-figure donation - the specific sum of which is undisclosed - aids the university's $1.5 million turf and track renovation project at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Center, according to a news release. SBU spokeswoman Charlotte Marsch said the gift was a matching donation that required the university to also raise funding.

“Our SBU campus environment is improved and we can serve students better because of the generosity of Bob Plaster and now the foundation," SBU President C. Pat Taylor said in the release. "(The donation) will improve the playing field for our SBU Bearcats and the Bolivar High School football team as well.”

SBU's fundraising campaign for the project has ended, and the school expects to begin construction by May 1. The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation Inc. issued a $300,000 challenge grant in February, and at the time, school officials said another $231,000 would need to be raised by June 30 for the grant to kick in.

The project would replace the stadium's grass field with all-weather synthetic turf for football and soccer programs, add a competition track and renovate the complex's press box, the release said.