News
Upcoming summer construction projects include new athletic fields
By Liam Wallace ’16
April 28, 2016
Tags news
This summer, Physical Plant and outside contractors will undertake a number of projects on campus. These include a reconfiguration of some athletics fields and repairs and replacements at other existing campus facilities.
A Dec. 10, 2015 Spectator article noted that the upcoming changes to the athletics fields include new baseball and softball fields, a new soccer practice field, and the transitioning of the golf course from nine to three holes. According to Associate Vice President for Facilities and Planning Steve Bellona, as of now, there are no substantial changes to those plans.
Construction of the new baseball and softball fields by Clark Companies, an athletic field designing and building company, is underway at the site off Campus Road. Additionally, the plans for the practice soccer field in the location of the current softball field went to the town planning board on Monday. If approved, work will begin following the softball season.
Bellona noted that while these plans are finalized, those for the golf course are not, saying, “We are still waiting for a final design on the golf course modifications with the intent of having a plan by the middle of May. The real plan we have right now is still three holes and whether that changes or not is still up in the air.” In the new iteration of the course, the three holes would likely include the current fourth and fifth holes, as well as the construction of a new par three hole. This version of the plans would also feature a practice green with the possible later addition of a driving range.
In terms of the total cost, Bellona notes that “if you are looking at the total project, for the practice field, the softball field, baseball field, the golf course and two small buildings that will be toilet facilities for the baseball area and the campus road fields,” the budget is $5.3 million.
As for the source of funding for these changes, Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Development George Nehme ’79 said, “these projects will be 100 percent funded by contributions from alumni and friends of the college.” He noted, “Given the overall costs for these important capital projects, our fundraising efforts are focused on individual donors who are in a position to consider six and seven figure contributions,” though “contributions of all sizes would be welcome and appreciated.” In terms of the fundraising timetable, he said, “while some contributions have already been received, other donors are making pledges” to commit a certain amount of money to the projects.
Aside from revamping of the athletics fields, many other smaller projects will take place on campus this summer. When asked how this year will compare to previous summer work, Bellona said, “from a project standpoint, it is probably comparable or a little bit more.“ Despite the increase in the amount of projects, the cost is expected to be lower than last summer when the College “did about $6.5 million worth of work,” divided “between a number of our larger projects and we did a lot fewer smaller projects.” This year, Bellona expects the cost to be around $4 million with that total coming from a “set budget that comes out of the budget process that is approved at the March board meeting.”
However, the lower cost does not mean less work. On a regular day, 50 to 100 contractors will be on campus working on various projects in addition to Physical Plant’s staff.
In choosing Physical Plant’s summer projects, Bellona said that many of their undertakings are preventative in nature. An example of this is the replacement of the cooling tower at Sage Rink. “We’ve done some work on the cooling tower to keep it going but it’s past its life so, although we could probably use it for another couple of seasons, the fact is that if it fails we’ve got a problem.” Similarly, the College will carry out repairs to the Root Glen stream embankments that will address current erosion problems and protect them in the future.
Bellona explained that planning these projects and carrying them out before things actually break is generally cheaper. “When something fails and we have to do a crisis action, usually it costs us at least two to three times as much money to fix it than it would if we planned it.” Because of this, preventative work is cost effective and keeps facilities usable.