Graves Family Sports Complex To Become Reality

The Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes have scored big. The much anticipated stadium project will soon become a reality. The school announced Thursday evening that they reached a deadline for a matching grant, and presented a $750,000 check from the Mabee Foundation.

Coyote teams will play on Gene Bissell Field, inside the Graves Family Sports Complex.

Once completed, the stadium facility will be utilized by multiple KWU programs, including the football team, men’s and women’s soccer team, the baseball team, and the softball team.

KWU and Sacred Heart High School will both use the new complex. The schools will share parking during events.

In front of the new stadium there will be a monument to Glenn Martin, for whom the current stadium is named, using stones from the existing facility. A coyote mascot monument is also planned. The field will still be called “Gene Bissel Field”.

A cast iron fence will surround the complex, as well a sidewalk.

The new stadium is replacing Glenn Martin Stadium. Because of its condition, the 73-year-old stadium had not been utilized for KWU games since 2007. The stadium, which opened back in 1940, was demolished to make way for a new sports complex.

Former Kansas governor and KWU alumnus Bill Graves presented Kansas Wesleyan President Matt Thompson with the check from the Mabee Foundation at an event on campus Thursday evening