Charles Benson Bear ’39 Recreation and Athletic Center
Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa
Year in Showcase: 2012
Project Description
Consistent with Grinnell College's liberal arts curriculum and philosophy of an open and all-inclusive culture, the Bear Center is shared by varsity athletes, students, faculty and staff members, and community residents. At first pass, the gym and pool pavilions appear to be two separate buildings with a grassy knoll separating them. The two pavilions actually reach out to one another with their dramatic cantilevered entry canopies. The large roof overhangs and canopies dramatically emphasize the horizontal planes and de-emphasize the verticality of the larger volumes behind.
The glass-curtainwalled entry lobbies wrap the larger-volume brick "boxes" housing the activity space. In a similar manner, the lobbies look out across the lawn at each other, almost as if to invite the other to visit. While the pool and gym are physically separated at street level, they are connected at the field level by way of an underground link.
The area between the gym and field house serves men's and women's intercollegiate teams with locker suites, sports medicine facilities and equipment-issue spaces at field level, and athletic department offices directly above at street level. Above the offices are two classrooms used for physical education, as well as for team meetings. During football games, these rooms serve as special function areas with views down to the football field. Other activity spaces located between the main venues include three racquetball courts, a multipurpose/dance room, an auxiliary gym, and a climbing and bouldering area.
Project Details
Architect Of Record: Sasaki Associates Inc.; Watertown, Mass.
Associate Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects; New Haven, Conn.
Aquatic Design Engineer: Counsilman-Hunsaker; St. Louis, Mo.
Construction Cost: $81 million
Square Feet: 275,500
Occupancy: August 2010
Vendors
Access Ramps/Stairs: Spectrum Aquatics
Basketball:
Connor Sports Flooring
Bulkheads: Stark Bulkhead Co.
Chemical Control Systems: Siemens Water Technologies
Cleaners/Vacuums: Aqua Products Inc.
Climbing Walls:
Nicros Inc. Climbing Wall Systems
Deck/Basin Surface: Dal-Tile Corp.
Divider Curtains:
Porter Athletic Inc.
Diving Boards: Duraflex Int'l Corp.
Dryers: Dexter Laundry Inc.
Filtration Systems: Neptune-Benson Inc.
Floor Covers:
Covermaster Inc.
Flooring: Crossfield Products Corp.
Gutters: Lawson Aquatics Inc.
Gutters: Neptune-Benson Inc.
Ice Machines: Scotsman
Ladders/Grab Bars: Spectrum Aquatics
Lane Markers: Adolph Kiefer And Associates
Lane Markers: Competitor Swim Products
Lighting: General Electric
Lighting:
Musco Lighting
Meet Management Withow: Nana Wall
Retractable Batting Cages:
Porter Athletic Inc.
Retractable Throwing Cages: Porter
Retractable Throwing Cages:
Porter Athletic Inc.
Scoreboard/Timing Systems:
Colorado Time Systems
Scoreboards/Timing Systems: Daktronics Inc.
Sports Med Treatment Tables: Meddo Sports Medicine
Starting Blocks:
S.R. Smith
Storage Unit: Spacesaver Corp., Osdi
Tennis: Beynon Sports Surfaces
Tennis Court Nets/Posts:
Porter Athletic Inc.
Track: Beynon Sports Surfaces
Track & Field Equipment: Gill Athletics
Volleyball:
Connor Sports Flooring
Washers:
Continental Girbau Inc.
Water Play Features: Antiwave Pool Products
Water Play Features:
Lonza
