Alumnus pledges $1.4 million for Paine Mtn. recreation facility

For Immediate Release
Nov. 18, 2010

Contact: Daphne Larkin
802-485-2886 or 595-3613(m)
dlarkin@norwich.edu

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NEWS RELEASE

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Norwich University alum Larry Costa, NU’80, of Nottingham, NH, has pledged $1.4 million to fund the construction of a four-season recreational facility on Paine Mountain.

Costa’s announcement of his gift came during the Class of 1980’s 30th Reunion Banquet during Homecoming Weekend in October.

A capital priority of Bearing the Torch, the project entails building a series of hiking, mountain-biking and snowshoeing trails on the former ski hill, along with adding outdoor recreational areas at the base of Paine Mountain. The renovation will begin once building permits have been obtained.

Per Costa’s wishes, the project will be named after his mentor, friend and business partner, the late SFC John Shaw. A 20-year Army veteran and former Mountain Cold Weather (MCW) instructor at Norwich, SFC Shaw died in 2006. The two men cofounded Worldwide Language Resources, a company that provides multi-lingual interpreters and translators.

Costa, who also stipulated the construction of a permanent facility at the base of the mountain where MCW cadets can store their gear and equipment and hold company meetings, said he credits Shaw with “turning my life around.”

“This is a wonderful act of generosity on Larry’s part,” said President Schneider. “We are just so awed and grateful.”


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Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army. Norwich University is the oldest private military college in the United States of America and the birthplace of our nation's Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu