Wichita State University has announced that navigating the upper rows of Charles Koch Arena will be easier and safer for fans of all ages this season with the installation of around 400 handrails.
According to the announcement posted on goshockers.com, the handrails will be added to aisles above the entryways in the upper bowl and in the lower bowl behind the baselines.
The project is a collaboration between athletics, the College of Engineering's Innovation Hub and the office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization. The 3-feet-tall carbon steel handrails are designed and manufactured by Wichita State staff and students in the Project Innovation Hub in the College of Engineering. Work on the handrails takes place in the John Bardo Center on the Innovation Campus.
"It's an addition to the arena that will make getting up and down stairs easier," said Brad Pittman, senior associate athletic director for facilities and operations. "Producing them on campus is a win-win for everybody."
Pittman said the athletic department began working on the project more than a year ago. Because of the width of the aisles — approximately four feet — adding handrails required a building code variance from the state of Kansas. Once the variance was granted, Pittman approached the Innovation Hub for a design. Prototyping started in late June. Installation began in early August and is scheduled to be finished in October, the announcement states.
Eleven students are working on the project.
"The really cool thing is that this has been almost entirely driven by students," said Thatcher Luginbill-Ruder, student manager for the Innovation Hub.
"We're listening to our fans," said Scott Barnhart, senior associate athletic director for external operations. "This was a result of all the feedback we've gotten from sessions last summer with our fans and the fan survey we did at the end of basketball season. That was the feedback – 'We would love to have some handrails.'
"One of our core values is safety,. That's one of the most important things we do – we want to provide a safe, fan-friendly environment so we can provide our fans with memorable experiences."
