In 1903, the Penn State Forest Academy played sports in a park near the school grounds. After the academy became the property of Penn State College in 1929, the idea formed to build a gym for the students.

It was not until October, when Lt. Gov. Mark S. Singel handed Mont Alto campus officials a mock-check for $2,793,000, that plans for a physical education building became definite. The money was the bulk of $3,491,000 allotted for the project.

The new building was planned long before it was put on the state Legislature's approved list in 1981, Mont Alto campus spokeswoman Eileen Graham said. It was approved with three other Penn State projects, Graham said.

"Mont Alto is the last to be funded from those approved," she said.

Corrinne Caldwell, Mont Alto campus chief executive officer, said there are two reasons it took nine years for total funding to come through.

"We had to come to the top of the University's and the state's priority list at the same time," she said. The change in campus administration three years ago also delayed the project.

Graham said Mont Alto campus students also demonstrated to release funding, but she was not aware of any reaction by the governor's office.

"The students held a demonstration last year to get the gym built," she said. "Hundreds of students petitioned Casey to release the funds for the building."

Mont Alto campus Student Government Association President Larry Walker said groundbreaking should take place at the end of this semester.

"We're waiting on some other funds to be released so we're not 100 percent sure," he said. "We also don't know how the budget deficit is going to affect the project."

After construction starts, it will take 2½ years to complete the building, Walker said. And though the exact layout of the building is still in the planning stages, he said the facility may include a full-court basketball court, a weight room, racquetball courts, physical education classrooms and athletic department offices.

Graham said she believes not having a gym has greatly affected enrollment and the campus's ability to draw faculty to the athletics program.

"Very often, the general reaction is, 'Where's the gym?' " she said, adding that one man decided against attending because the campus had no gym.

However, Walker said what the campus lacks in facilities, it makes up for in activities.

"The Activities Committee does a great job," he said. "Our monthly calendar of events is always packed."

Students have always dealt with the lack of athletic facilities, Graham said.

"There was a time when the auditorium was used before permanent seats were put in," she said. "We had to beg, borrow and rent facilities."

For certain indoor sports, students were bused to a local YMCA, Graham said.

"Students have always found a way to do sports," Graham said. "Students who come tend to get even more involved. There's great loyalty here."

Walker said the new facility will bring students closer together by providing an area that everyone can use.

"It will definitely have a positive effect on commuters," he said. "It will give them something else to do between classes."