St. Lawrence alum donates $5M for second phase of Appleton Arena expansion project

CANTON — A donation from a graduate will help St. Lawrence University in Canton pay for the second phase of a renovation and expansion project at the school’s Appleton Arena.

The $5 million gift will support an expansion of the Michael “Buddy” Cornacchia ‘74 Strength and Conditioning Center, along with locker room and team facilities for the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, field hockey, softball, and men and women’s rowing teams. 

George Karpus, who graduated from the St. Lawrence County school in 1968, donated the funding, the university said in a Tuesday news release. It’ll be known as the George W. Karpus ‘68 Athletic Center at Appleton Arena.

Appleton Arena — which is also home to the Saints’ NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey programs — was recently renovated. St. Lawrence dedicated the new facilities earlier this year on Feb. 8, the school said.

St. Lawrence University has worked with HOK, a St. Louis, Missouri–based design firm, during the past three years. Plans and construction drawings were completed in 2018 and the school is updating project costs. Fundraising will continue, and once completed, crews will begin construction with a target date of spring 2022.

The completion of the George W. Karpus ‘68 Athletic Center at Appleton Arena will also “positively impact the entire campus community,” the school contends. St. Lawrence also plans to revamp the current strength and conditioning space for student athletes in the Stafford Fitness Center, “allowing students, faculty, and staff access to a larger area,” the school said.

Karpus in 1986 founded Karpus Investment Management, an investment advisory firm with offices near Rochester and in Florida. He has been a “generous” donor to the St. Lawrence Fund and in 2006, established the George W. Karpus ‘68 Expendable Scholarship Fund, the school said.

The Appleton Arena project is supported by the Campaign for Every Laurentian, which the school describes as the “largest comprehensive fundraising initiative” in the more than 160-year history of St. Lawrence University.