Though the recession still lingers, some of the nation's most well known Catholic universities appear as financially healthy as ever. Over the last few weeks, the University of Notre Dame has received a great deal of attention for its $400 million expansion, but its not the only Catholic university with a significant development in the works. While not quite as expensive, Georgetown University recently announced it will soon commence construction on a new $60 million athletic center. The Washington Post reports:

Georgetown University is set to break ground over the summer on a state-of-the-art athletic facility that will be named in honor of former longtime men's basketball coach John Thompson Jr. and built adjacent to McDonough Arena, school officials confirmed Tuesday.

Advertisement

The John R. Thompson Intercollegiate Athletics Center will cost an estimated $60 million and will house practice courts, locker rooms for basketball and other sports, offices for men’s and women's basketball coaching staffs and team meeting rooms.

Completion of the 144,000-square foot facility to be used by all 29 of Georgetown’s sports programs is forecasted for 2016. The basketball teams will continue to play games at their current venues, with the men at Verizon Center and the women at McDonough.

The new facility, which the University refers to as the Intercollegiate Athletics Center, will be the first new athletics facility in more than 60 years. You can read more about this project at the Georgetown University Athletics web site.