The Walter Payton Health and Wellness Center

A tribute to a legendary athlete.

Walter Jerry Payton 1954-1999

Location: The campus of Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

Client: Jackson State University

Architect: M3A Architects, Jackson, Mississippi

General Contractor: W.G. Yates & Sons, Philadelphia, Mississippi

Ceramic / Stone Subcontractor: CraftCroswell/Major JV, Jackson, Mississippi

Stone / Ceramic Distributor: Surface Solutions, Inc, Madison, MS

Completed in May of 2006, the facility is a memorial to one of the greatest athletes to matriculate at Jackson State University and one of the greatest professional athletes, ever. The Sporting News named Walter Payton the eighth greatest all-time professional football player in 1999, shortly before his death. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. The design and craftsmanship reflects the honor and respect of the hundreds involved in its construction. Entering this building takes your breath away.

 

The entrance hall features a stone medallion with compass points 65 feet in diameter, each pointing to an entrance in a 72-foot rotunda. The Hall of Fame features a stone and porcelain walkway lined with porcelain clad pillars anchoring the roof’s supporting columns. A glass block end-wall and a roof skylight at the end of the hall captures the light and draws one in from the entrance hall. The compass points and stone tile were fabricated from Crème Marfil and Dark Emperdor marble and are inset into a field of  18x 18 Crème Marfil stone and ILVA Crème Marfil polished porcelain tiles . The entire medallion was water jet cut in a radial pattern by Santucci Graniti S.R.L. Carrara, Italy. The theme is continued in the Hall using 3”x3” dots of stone inset into ILVA 14x14 Crème Marfil with polished borders and bands. Lighting is used to accent the stone anchors and provide indirect lighting in the Hall and rotunda. The result is spectacular.

 

The toilets, showers and locker rooms adjacent to the Hall of Fame feature 14x14 ILVA Crème Marfil on a diagonal, inset into a 20x20 ILVA Crème Marfil field. The walls are of 20x20 ILVA Crème Marfil installed at a 45-degree diagonal.