New Projects: Nelson Park | Hope Fieldhouse | Long Reach Tennis Club

Grand Openings

[Photo courtesy of UNG]

The University of North Georgia recently completed a 103,000-square-foot Convocation Center on its campus in Dahlonega. The efficient and flexible design by Lord Aeck Sargent of Atlanta, in collaboration with Detroit-based Rossetti, enables the Convocation Center to host athletics and community events for up to 3,600 spectators, with 1,900 fixed seats, 1,350 retractable seats and telescopic bleachers with a capacity of 350. A concourse surrounding the events floor provides open lines of sight to both interior activities and exterior mountain views. The $37.4 million facility also houses kinesiology classrooms and labs.

[Photos courtesy of LAAC]

The historic Los Angeles Athletic Club recently debuted phase two of a $10 million renovation. Upgrades include enhanced women's locker rooms and the new Kahuna Room, which will house the WAVE club. The 138-year-old facility also debuted improvements to the athletics, social and meeting spaces, as well as hotel rooms on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors. By the end of the year, LAAC plans to have wrapped up the final round of renovations, complete with a unisex spa area, treatment rooms and a multipurpose salt room. Plans by SRK Architects of Los Angeles also include an in-house barber shop, a nail salon and the poolside Plunge Café.

[Photos courtesy of Sasaki]

The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., recently celebrated the grand opening of the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. Designed by Sasaki of Watertown, Mass., the 143,000-square-foot addition to the Hart Center features an indoor synthetic turf practice field, a gymnasium, coaches' and administrative offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, varsity team locker rooms for the basketball program, a new locker room for the women's ice hockey team, a strength and conditioning center, an ergonomics room, expanded sports medicine and equipment-handling facilities, and a renovated main entryway.

[Photos courtesy of GTM Architects]

The Long Reach Tennis Club in Columbia, Md., recently opened the doors on a 49,000-square-foot facility designed by Bethesda-based GTM Architects. The climate-controlled club includes six indoor tennis courts, locker rooms, a clubhouse, a pro shop, a viewing lounge, a refreshment bar, administrative offices, storage and utility rooms. The clubhouse features a reception area and lobby, restrooms, meeting rooms and a mezzanine-level viewing area with picture windows overlooking the courts. The facility is designed around sustainability, with solar panels, LED lighting, bioretention facilities and onsite electric car charging stations.

First Pitch

The Rosemount (Minn.) Advisory Planning Commission recently approved rezoning plans for the future site of the Hope Fieldhouse. The 42,000-square-foot facility will house indoor courts for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, as well as space for wrestling, gymnastics, dance and cheerleading, and adapted athletics programming. An upper-level walking track and a fitness center round out the program.

The University of Windsor in Ontario recently gained approval to build a $73 million campus athletics facility. Plans for the new Lancer Sport and Recreation Center feature a three-court gymnasium with spectator seating for 2,700, an eight-lane competition pool, a 12,000-square-foot fitness facility, and five multipurpose rooms. Groundbreaking is targeted for spring 2019.

The city of Camrose, Alberta, recently approved a $17.2 million renovation and expansion of its municipal aquatics center. Plans for the Camrose Aquatic Centre include an eight-lane, 25-meter fitness pool, a therapy and learning pool, a lazy river, a splash pad, a water slide, upgraded locker rooms and lobby space, and a steam room. Construction is slated to begin this summer.

Breaking Ground

The Decatur (Ill.) Park District broke ground in June on the Nelson Park recreational aquatics complex. The project is being overseen by Westport Pools of St. Louis in collaboration with Forsyth, Ill.-based Architectural Expressions. The aquatics complex will feature a 25-yard lap pool, a 7,800-square-foot leisure pool, a splash pad and a variety of water slides, enabling the city to host competitive swimming events, learn-to-swim classes, lifeguard certification seminars and fitness swimming sessions, along with recreational free swims. The pools represent the latest progress on the district's five-year lakefront development plan. The complex is on schedule to open in 2019.

Milwaukee Public Schools recently broke ground on a $5.7 million multisport stadium at Vincent High School. The design-build project will be completed by Nicholas & Associates Inc. of Mt. Prospect, Ill., and will feature synthetic turf fields for football and soccer, an eight-lane running track, shotput and discus throwing stations, restrooms, locker rooms for both home and away teams, a separate locker room for game officials, a press box, a ticket window, a concessions stand and bleacher seating for 1,200 spectators. The stadium will also be outfitted with outdoor lighting and a new scoreboard. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2019.

West Texas A&M University recently broke ground on a $38.8 million football stadium in Canyon. The design, by design firm DLR Group, features a split seating bowl with upper-level grandstands surrounding a synthetic turf playing field. The bowl includes seating for 8,500 spectators, with the capacity to expand to accommodate 12,000. Natural grass berms on the north and south ends of the stadium will provide additional seating. A multistory building on the stadium's west side will house concourse-level suites, elevated club seating and a press box. Completion is targeted for the 2019 football season.

The city of North Charleston, S.C., in partnership with Dorchester School District Two, broke ground in June on a $21 million Olympic-sized pool and aquatics center at Fort Dorchester High School. The 54,000-square-foot facility, awarded to Brantley Construction of North Charleston, will be equipped to host regional swim meets, learn-to-swim lessons and water aerobics with a 10-lane, 50-meter competition pool; an eight-lane, 25-yard warm-up pool; locker rooms; administrative offices; a pro shop; a concessions stand; an outdoor patio; and retractable seating for 1,000 spectators. Facility completion is expected by November 2019.

This article originally appeared in the July|August 2018 issue of Athletic Business. Athletic Business is a free magazine for professionals in the athletic, fitness and recreation industry. Click here to subscribe.