The original plans for the center included bowling alleys, but they were not installed because of lack of funds. Students were anxious to have the lanes installed. In 1959 the All Students’ Council allocated $200 as a first contribution toward a fundraising campaign.
The pleas of the students were heard by William B. Stokely Jr. (’22), then chairman of the board of Stokely-Van Kamp Inc., who donated six hundred shares of stock (valued in excess of $11,000) as the initial capital for the construction of an eight-lane bowling center in the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center. The total cost of the center was approximately $35,000. The costs in excess of the Stokely gift were repaid from revenue generated by the facility.
The lanes, on the lowest level of the university center, opened in fall 1959 and were dedicated on May 27, 1960. The center was named in memory of William B. Stokely Sr. (’95), father of the donor. Mrs. William B. Stokely Sr. and William B. Stokely Jr. attended the dedication, and William B. Stokely Jr. formally presented the center to UT President Andy Holt. Sylvia Wene, the nation’s top female bowler, also participated and gave exhibition bowling matches against Delores Long, a Magnolia Lanes bowler, and Betty McElroy of the Treasurer’s Office.
The dedicatory plaque said: “William B. Stokely / Memorial Bowling Center / in memory of / William Burnett Stokely / 1873–1945 / Captain of the / First Football Team at the / University of Tennessee—1894 / Graduate—Class of 1895 / Member of the Board of Trustees / 1927–1934 / Member of the Athletic Council / 1935–1945 / Staunch and Able Supporter / of The University / This facility made possible / through the generosity of his son / William Burnett Stokely, Jr.”