Rochester College hits $1 million mark in funds raised for new gym

Rochester College in Michigan, which is associated with Churches of Christ, has reached the $1 million mark in its fundraising for the Garth Pleasant Gymnasium, which will honor the college’s former longtime head basketball coach.

Klint Pleasant, right, grew up at Rochester College, where his father, Garth, coached for 38 seasons. (PHOTO BY JEFFREY LEWIS BENNETT)The college reports on its website:

The college began raising funds for the project in late July 2013 and hit the $500,000 mark in less than six months. Bill and Shirlee Fox, owners of Bill Fox Chevrolet in Rochester Hills, matched the amount of $500,000, bringing the total raised to date to $1 million. The couple also has pledged another $500,000 as a matching gift for the project.

“We are grateful to the local community and to our long-time friends for their support of the college,” said President John Tyson. “We are thrilled to reach the $1 million mark so quickly, and hope to continue raising money so that we can break ground on the new gymnasium.”

In all, $3.8 million is needed for the project, Rochester officials say.

The Christian Chronicle featured Garth Pleasant, who coached Rochester for 38 years, and his son, Klint, who succeeded his father, in a 2012 profile titled “All the more Pleasant”:

The Rochester Warriors practice in a small gymnasium at the back end of campus.

Championship banners hang on the walls, but there’s no room for bleachers. The team plays “home” games at nearby Rochester High School — a fact that always astonishes outsiders.

“Coaches are blown away,” Klint Pleasant said. “They come in here and say, ‘I thought your dad had 700 and some-odd wins.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, but all on the road.’”