Creighton University will name its new athletics facility “The Bill” in honor of the late Bill Scott, whose family made the lead gift for the $65 million project currently under construction at 20th and Burt.
The 50,000-square-foot building will sit directly next to “The Ruth” — the volleyball and women’s basketball practice facility named for Scott’s wife of 73 years, Ruth Scott, which opened in 2019.
“After 73 years of marriage, I still wanted to be close to Bill,” Ruth Scott said.
The Bill will open in 2027 and serve Creighton’s 300-plus student-athletes. Right now, all teams share one weight room in the McDermott Center, which means some athletes train as early as 5 a.m. or late into the evening just to get space. The cramped setup has also limited access to sports medicine and academic support. Creighton Athletics doesn’t have a dedicated dining hall either — something most universities already provide.
The new building will include roughly 10,000 square feet for strength training, an outdoor workout area, a dining hall focused on athlete nutrition and space for medical care, academic help and mental health services.
Bill Scott worked with Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway starting in the 1970s. He left the investment world in the early 1990s to focus on philanthropy in Nebraska.
The Scott family has helped to fund multiple Creighton Athletics buildings, including the McDermott Center, Ryan Athletic Center, D.J. Sokol Arena and the Rasmussen Center — named after former Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen.
“Bruce Rasmussen inspired us to support student-athletes,” Ruth Scott said. “We didn’t usually put our names on things, but when the volleyball team wanted to call their facility ‘The Ruth,’ I came to love it.”
The Bill is part of Fly Together, a $300 million project to upgrade Creighton’s athletic facilities. The effort started in September with a $100 million donation from the Heider Family Foundation.
JE Dunn is building The Bill. Holland Basham Architects and Portland agency GLGR designed it.
Photo Credit: GLGR/Holland Basham Architects, Creighton University
