The Al McGuire center — completed in the fall of 2003 — cost Marquette $31 million dollars to build. Since May 2002, when the project broke ground, the university looked for ways to fund the new building.

The McGuire center was to be financed directly through donations from the Magis campaign. The funds from the Magis campaign were to go directly to the construction of the McGuire Center, as well as an operating endowment for the new facility, according to Director of University Communication Ben Tracy.

Senior Director of University Development Al Frizone is very pleased with how the campaign to raise money went.

"Let me tell you, it is never easy to raise $31 million dollars," Frizone said. "Doing something like that requires a lot of support. This really just started out as a dream. The old gym was, well, old. We needed a new gym and we had a solid reason for needing the money. The whole thing took about three years but it was a wonderful team effort on the part of alumni and friends of the university, as well as others involved with the Magis campaign."

Tracy confirmed the university has seen enough pledges and commitments from donors and friends of the university to reach the total cost of the project, which he estimated at $31 million dollars.

Tracy also said there was some unexpected funding help which came the university's way while trying to raise the funds for the McGuire center.

"An anonymous donor made a multi-million dollar donation early on in the process," Tracy said. "Also Marquette's trip to the final four last year allowed the university to raise more than $4 million dollars in approximately two weeks."

The campaign was called the push for the "Final $4 million," according to Tracy. Tracy said it was the Final $4 million which put Marquette over the top for its goal of $31 million dollars for the project.

Tracy acknowledged all the supporters of the project, saying they were incredible help to the university in its efforts to secure the money needed to fund the new McGuire Center.

The response from alumni, friends and other donors has just been phenomenal," Tracy said. "More than 4,000 people nation-wide contributed to this project. Donations ranged from one dollar to over $1 million dollars. Many of these donors share the university's commitment to having a truly excellent athletic program at Marquette. Then there were others who had no connections to Marquette besides the fact they loved Al McGuire."