LeTourneau celebrates opening of Air Dome inflatable indoor athletic facility

LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) – LeTourneau University ushered in a new era for its track and field programs on Wednesday as it celebrated the grand opening of its new Athletic & Human Performance Air Dome.

LeTourneau’s new 8-story, 120,000-square-foot inflatable dome will house a 200-meter banked track with seating for 1,500 visitors and make the university a prime location to host national and regional track and field meets.

Tim Seegal, vice president of LeTourneau University’s athletic department, believes the new dome will boost the economy of Longview and East Texas.

“We do think that this will be an economic boost to the city when you consider the hotel nights, but then also the food and the restaurants that will be engaged with, and then all of the just fun entertainment opportunities that Longview has to offer,” Seegal said. “We’re excited for them to explore, and so obviously that has a benefit for our campus, but then also for Longview and East Texas as well.”

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Photo courtesy of LeTourneau University.

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Photo courtesy of LeTourneau University.

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Photo courtesy of LeTourneau University.

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Photo courtesy of LeTourneau University.

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Photo courtesy of LeTourneau University Development.

In addition to the track and field programs the air dome will host, LeTourneau also plans to open the facility to the Longview community to run on the track and play tennis and pickleball.

The facility features academic spaces for students in LeTourneau’s kinesiology and biomedical engineering programs, golf simulators, a PING Performance Lab, a team room and an athletic training room.

The air dome will host its first of 27 scheduled track events in December. To learn more, visit LeTourneau University.

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