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Bain Athletic Complex

A state-of-the-art athletics complex and fulfillment of a long-held dream of faithful supporters opened officially on July 23, 2024 at West Texas A&M University.

The fully complete Bain Athletic Complex, located on Russell Long Boulevard west of Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium, opened with a ribbon cutting and tours, capping off a nearly 15-year and $12.5 million project. The facility features 14,000 square feet of meeting spaces, locker rooms and coaches offices.

The complex was the dream of Dr. Barbara and the late Dr. Ray Bain, whose family is among WT's most generous supporters. Ray Bain attended WT, then became president of First State Bank of Dimmitt in 1985. In 1987, he joined with Stanley Schaeffer and a small group of investors to purchase the bank, which became known as First United Bank in 1994. Today, the bank has expanded to 17 locations across 13 West Texas cities.

The Bain family joined with the Schaeffer family for a $5 million gift in 2022 to officially rename Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium, WT's on-campus football stadium. The First United Bank Center, named for the bank founded by Ray Bain with Stanley Schaeffer, opened in January 2002. Other campus locations named for the Bain family include the Bain Events Center in the Agricultural Sciences Complex; Dr. Barbara Bain English, Language Arts and Social Studies Classroom in Old Main; and the Ray Bain Media Room in the Classroom Center.

Construction on the first phase of the complex was completed in 2012 with a 3,900-square-foot locker room for the WT football team. The Don Patterson Football Locker Room is named after the three-year starter at outside linebacker and a three-year letter winner for the Buffaloes. He was a member of the 1950 Border Conference championship team and a member of the 1951 Sun Bowl championship team.

Patterson served two terms as Director of WT Alumni Association and Phoenix Club, Member of the Old Main Society and President's Circle and WTAMU Foundation Board of Directors. He also established the Don and Dorothy Patterson Leadership Scholarship, as well as the Don and Dorothy Patterson President's Honor Scholarship.

Phase II, which was completed in 2016, included a 7,600-square-foot weight room with capacity for 500 student-athletes.

Phase III was completed in 2018, providing an athletic training room and locker rooms for the women's and men's soccer teams. The Gerald Gray Parker Athletic Training Room features state-of-the-art technology that allows the Sports Medicine staff to provide first-class medical support for the Buffs and Lady Buffs. A pair of hydrotherapy tubs benefit the elimination of plasma lactate concentration, treating acute pain and inflammation while minimizing the negative side effects of training.

West Texas A&M's Team Physician Dr. James Parker named the new athletic training room after his father, Gerald Gray Parker. As one of the leading orthopedic surgeons in Texas, Dr. James Parker has operated on more than 200 injured Buffs and Lady Buffs since 2006. Parker Sports Medicine provides first-class medical support for the athletic program, from annual physicals, weekly campus injury evaluations and rehabilitation protocols to return players to competition safely and effectively.

Gallery: (7-1-2025) Sports Medicine & Athletic Performance

The final phase provides more modern office space for coaches, track & field locker rooms and the Piehl Family Hall, which provides a large team meeting room space. Piehl Family Hall features team meeting space in a divisible tiered seating that can hold 150 student-athletes.

The Bain Athletic Complex showcases an outdoor courtyard for student gathering with shade structures and outdoor seating areas. The WT Athlete Lounge provides a communal space for the Buffs and Lady Buffs to relax before and after practices and between classes. The area features gaming systems along with a nutrition bar.

Gallery: (7-1-2025) Bain Athletic Complex