When Corban College’s class of 2006 graduates in May, visiting families and friends will watch the ceremony while sitting on brand-new bleachers.

The replacement of the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center’s 30-year-old bleachers is the first step in a revitalization project planned for the sports complex. Built in the 1970s, the center includes a gymnasium, fitness center, locker rooms, classrooms and offices. It hosts sporting events and seats up to 1,500 guests at graduation each year.

“The Jeffers Sports Center needs upgrading and expanding,” says Steve Hunt, Corban’s vice president of marketing. “To launch that, the bleachers are a visible first step.

Unlike the old bleachers, which must be folded up manually, the new bleachers are motorized, a standard feature at modern collegiate gymnasiums. The new seating will also be more user-friendly, adding comfort, accessibility, and better vision lines for audiences.

“Now they will be powered seats, so they’ll open with the push of a button,” Campus Care director Tom Samek adds. An added safety feature about the new design is that it eliminates the open spaces at spectators' feet. Another change is color; the new bleachers are navy, while the old ones are brown. Most importantly, the college wants to replace the aging bleachers before they become unsafe, Hunt says.

Workers expect to install the new bleachers in early April. The first major event to fill them will be graduation on May 6. Then, the CBNW Youth Conference on May 19th and 20th, as well as the Oregon High School Girls' All-Star games on June 23rd, will use the new bleachers this summer.