Tigerville, SC - The newly built George Bomar Family Stadium at Ashmore Park on the North Greenville University (NGU) Tigerville Campus officially opened last weekend when the Division II No. 1 NGU baseball team hosted a weekend series with Emmanuel College. A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Bomar family, friends, donors, and local dignitaries was held before the noon pitch on Sat. Feb. 29.
The baseball stadium, constructed by Sherman Construction of Piedmont, includes a President’s Box suite, which offers an events venue at the stadium, a hospitality/media space for the press box, restrooms, and concessions, and a 300-seat stadium structure directly behind home plate. The Bomar family contributed $600,000 to the project which broke ground on Feb. 9, 2019.
Director of Alumni Engagement Lamont Sullivan welcomed the guests to the celebration after an open house of the new facilities. Bob Davies, a member of the NGU board of trustees and father-in-law to NGU head baseball coach Landon Powell, led the invocation followed with dedicatory remarks by NGU President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr.
“Christ-first excellence happens in NGU’s classrooms, offices, dorms, and athletic facilities. This incredible addition to our facilities offers yet another place to demonstrate that Christ does make a difference as He connects us into vibrant communities,” said President Fant.
Fant said that the university is incredibly humbled by the confidence the Bomar family has placed in us and by their decades-long love for this community.
“This new stadium will help us to attract scholar-athletes for decades to come and offers a venue for other activities as well, all of which is the result of the Bomar’s vision for this special place,” said President Fant.
Following President Fant’s remarks, Professor of Missions and Evangelism Dr. Bill Cashion offered the dedicatory prayer followed by a ribbon-cutting.
The first phase of Ashmore Park was a reworking of the current playing surface, costing $1.2 million, which was funded by private donations. Bea Dillard, of Spartanburg, made the lead gift to begin the Ray and Bea Dillard Field project in memory of her husband, Ray. The refurbishments included the installation of artificial turf with a standard dirt mound, new outfield fencing, backstop fencing, scoreboard, bullpen, and batting cages. That phase was completed in early 2018, making NGU the first college or university to have an all-turf baseball field in the state of South Carolina.
Bomar was born a short distance from the Tigerville campus on Camp Creek Road in 1934. Having served on many boards, he was a leader in Greenville County and was chairman of Greenville County Council, the first president of the SC Association of Counties from Greenville County, and in 1995 was awarded the state’s highest honor given to a civilian, the Order of the Palmetto.
A lifelong active Baptist, Bomar’s support of NGU began over two decades ago. A former member of NGU’s Council of Advisors, he and his wife, Dr. Barbara Bomar, are Christian Ministry Scholarship Fund and Crusader Club members. They have financially supported other university projects. The university’s College of Mass Communication facility in the Jacks and Deborah Tingle Student Life Center is named in Bomar’s honor. NGU bestowed an honorary doctorate on Bomar in 2005. The Dr. George Bomar and Dr. Barbara Bomar Endowment Fund was established in 2007 to provide scholarships for Mass Communication students.
Future phases of the Ashmore Park development include new student housing overlooking the baseball field.
Also, a wellness and outdoor recreational center are planned for construction beyond the right-field fence, offering views of both Dillard Field and mountains to the north of the campus. The final phase will be a renovation to the current baseball fieldhouse to include a players’ lounge, newly renovated locker room facilities, coaches’ offices, laundry, and storage.