EchoVib

Brad Pitt and his brother Doug just contributed $600,000 to Drury University in Missouri. The money goes towards The O’Reilly Family Event Center, which is currently being built on campus, but it’s not just some athletic giveaway. The money is being specifically designated towards making the center meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) gold standards. The certification of “gold” is the second-highest standard a building can meet. In exchange for their donation, Brad and Doug Pitt asked the court in the center be named for their father, William A. Pitt. According to the Spingfield News-Leader, “The arena will be among the first in the nation to meet the gold standard.” They’re trying to complete the arena before Pittsburgh’s 2010 completion of the Consol Energy Arena, future home of the NHL’s Penguins.

Edsel Matthews said he was a little relieved after the ceremonial groundbreaking for the O’Reilly Family Event Center on Friday.

The vice president of athletics affairs at Drury University has spent the past 18 months raising enough funds to move forward with the construction.

“It’s exhilaration and relief at the same time,” Matthews said. “We’re not through. We’ve got a lot more to do, but we’re thrilled to move to this point.”

The $13.5 million, 3,100-seat arena will be the home of the Drury men’s and women’s basketball teams starting in the 2010-11 season. Bulldozers already had begun clearing the land a few weeks before Friday’s ceremonies.

Although Matthews said he still needs to raise about $500,000 to fund fixtures and furnishings, the project got another large donation late last month.

The Pitt family of Springfield, led by Brad, Doug and Julie, donated $600,000 in exchange for the court being named the William A. Pitt Court in honor of their father.

The name of the court will be emblazoned on the outside of the building. The donation will go toward upgrading the building’s environmental friendliness.

Now, the O’Reilly Family Event Center will be built to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) gold standards. Gold certification is the second-highest standard a building can meet.

“Brad’s hobby is architecture, and his push in the ‘Make It Right’ campaign has been working at the highest levels of LEED certifications they can,” Doug Pitt said. “So to be involved in any type of building project, that’s going to be at the forefront of any conversation right away.”

“It was something that was important to him, and it was something that was important to the O’Reilly family and something that was important to Drury.”

The “Make It Right” project is a campaign run by Brad Pitt to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans with affordable, environmentally friendly houses.

The arena will be among the first in the nation to meet the gold standard. Consol Energy Arena in Pittsburgh, future home of the NHL’s Penguins and scheduled to open in 2010, is also on pace for gold certification.

“Doing a gold event center is a major statement,” Drury president Todd Parnell said.

“With Drury having partners that we have, the O’Reilly family, the Pitt family, CoxHealth and the Mabee Foundation, it speaks to the quality of the project. It’s a great day.”

The ceremony had barely wrapped up before the bulldozers started working again.

[From The Springfield News-Leader]

It’s a cool thing to do, a really nice way for Brad and Doug to honor their dad, and to make one of those huge stadiums more environmentally-friendly is a great idea. In any case, it’s better than nothing. Brad and Doug have worked together on a few charitable endeavors over the past few years. Late last year, Brad and Angelina (through The Jolie-Pitt Foundation) matched funds with local Missouri businesses to support a children’s charity providing clothes, food and school supplies to children living in poverty.

My first thought when I read this was “Oh, Brad’s promoting a movie.” I totally support Brad and Angelina’s charitable endeavors, but sometimes I think they should try to separate the timing of their charity activities with their promotional film duties. It may seem to them like they’re cross-promoting a certain cause while promoting a film, but another way to spin it is that they’re just giving money at certain times when they’ve got something to promote, and they want to look really great and magnanimous.

Brad Pitt is shown out in NY on 5/16/09. Credit: WENN.com

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