WATERVILLE – A longtime benefactor of Colby College has donated $3 million to improve athletic facilities there.

Harold Alfond’s $3 million grant is the largest gift the college has ever received from a living person, said Colby President William Cotter.

The money will be used to repair the college gymnasium, which was damaged in an August fire, and to modernize and build other athletic facilities, school officials said.

“We are, of course, most grateful for this magnificent and unprecedented gift, which will make it possible for Colby to recover fully from the August fire and to move beyond and create a completely modern, comprehensive athletic facility,” said Cotter.

The trustees voted Tuesday to rename the entire Colby athletic complex after Alfond, 78. Several facilities, including the hockey arena, already bear the name of Alfond, who is the founder of Dexter Shoe Co.

Alfond’s wife, Bibba, is a Colby alumna. Their son and granddaughter are also Colby graduates.

The grant proposal stipulates that Colby’s Board of Trustees match the gift within five years, with the matching money to go to an endowment for faculty chairs.

Plans for the first major renovations to the school’s athletic complex since 1965 call for the replacement of the basketball court, squash courts, and staff offices destroyed or damaged in the fire.

Also, Colby plans on building a new two-level, 9,000-square-foot fitness, weight-training, and exercise area; four new football and hockey locker rooms; upgrades at the existing swimming pool and tennis courts; and other improvements.

Total project costs exceed $5 million. School officials hope the project is completed by early 1994.