Facilities: Page 569

Deadline Looms for ADA Compliance on Pool Lifts

Fewer than 75 days remain for aquatic facility operators to become compliant with provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding access to public pools and spas. Last May, the U.S. Department of Justice extended the deadline from March 15, 2012, to Jan. 31, 2013.

Sponsored

Adaptable Aquatics: How to Overcome Seasonality While Protecting Your Budget

DynaDome Retractable Enclosures

Facing growing pressure to balance tight budgets with member expectations, forward-thinking institutions are adopting three key strategies to get the most from their aquatic spaces.

Adaptable Aquatics: How to Overcome Seasonality While Protecting Your Budget

How to Know When a Vendor Becomes a Business Partner

"You didn't build that" is now part of presidential campaign history. But here's where we stand with regard to that whole controversy: When we look at our 18-year-old business, we're very confident that we did "build that," but we also agree that there were many people who "along the line gave us some help." Among the people to whom we owe a debt of gratitude are teachers, relatives, early investors who took a chance on us, and the guys who constructed the roads that bring our customers to us.

(Pamela Moore/istockphoto.com)

'End Tables' Achieve Separation Between Fitness Equipment

Fitness equipment is placed in rows because it is space efficient, and because the symmetry of the view helps alleviate the sense of clutter.

(Photo by Andrew Cohen)

Stadium & Arena

Designing Sound Systems to Meet Stadium Audio Challenges

The last time Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., underwent a major renovation, the look of the stadium - whose bared-scaffolding-and-bleacher simplicity often prompted TV color analyst John Madden to proclaim it a shrine to the NFL

FROM THE ROOFTOPS Evenly distributed loudspeakers have eliminated echo issues at Lambeau Field. (Photo courtesy of the Green Bay Packers)

Gym & Fieldhouse

NCAA Institutes Indexing System for 2012-13 Indoor Track and Field

While the idea of building an outdoor competition track in any length other than 400 meters is preposterous, no one bats an eye at the variation in indoor track lengths.

(Photo of Grinnell College's Charles Benson Bear '39 Recreation and Athletic Center Â© Robert Benson Photography, courtesy of SasaKi Associates Inc.)

U. of Iowa Climbing Wall Closed After Student Falls

The rock climbing wall at the University of Iowa is closed indefinitely after a fall landed one student in the hospital on Nov. 9. Business student Spencer Bean, an experienced climber who is also an employee of the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, fell 30 feet, landing upright on his feet. He remained conscious and coherent for a few moments before passing out.

Record FHL Crowd Warms Up to Outdoor Hockey

Two numbers to take away from Wednesday night's professional hockey game between the Williamsport Outlaws and the Dayton Storm (aside from the 5-2 final score in favor of visiting Dayton): 3,447 and 67.

10 12 outdoorhockey

Stadium & Arena

Blog: Yankee Fans Are Voting with Their Feet

Over the years, as the ticket prices for many sporting events have skyrocketed and various surcharges, such as PSLs, have been tacked on, some of us have wondered when fans will say enough is enough, forcing prices downward. The answer, thus far, has been: Not for some time yet. A small percentage dump their season ticket packages, but there are always others out there (people as well as corporations, who in the sports context are people, my friend) who will gladly pay whatever it takes to make it through the turnstiles.

2012 Facility of Merit Winner: East Oakland Sports Center

Boasting one of the few recreational natatoriums in the country for underserved populations, the East Oakland Sports Center was lauded by the judges both for its design and for what it means to the community it serves. The project has a long history: The architect began working to bring it to fruition in 1999, when the city and then-city council president identified Ira Jinkins Park as the future site of a new community recreation and aquatics center. Although popular, the park, like the neighborhood in which it was located, suffered from blight and crime, and local youths had few opportunities to access recreational facilities.

2012 Facility of Merit Winner: Hillcrest Centre

Hillcrest Centre now has two Facility of Merit awards to its credit - it adjoins the previously completed Aquatic Centre at Hillcrest Park, which AB honored in 2011. Formerly the temporary-use 2010 Vancouver Olympics curling venue, this project involved the conversion of the shell space into a variety of legacy community uses. Materials selection was key to the judges' enthusiasm; angling for LEED Gold certification, the designers specified wood interior cladding, window casings and millwork throughout the facility, more than half of which was Forest Stewardship Council-certified. "They used a very sophisticated palette of materials," one judge commented. "It was like art. At the same time, I felt like it didn't take itself too seriously - there was a genuine playfulness about the overall facility that made it extremely welcoming."

2012 Facility of Merit Winner: Portland State University Academic and Student Recreation Center

Housing a mix of public and private uses - the ground floor incorporates retail storefronts, and upper floors are occupied by the Student Recreation Center, the university chancellor's office, the PSU School of Social Work and the City Archives - this collaborative effort between Portland State University, the City of Portland and the State of Oregon was among the most intriguing projects to AB's panel of judges. "It was a really complicated program that all had to be condensed onto one urban block," one judge noted, "and the way the designers layered different functions on different floors was really interesting. They put retail on grade, and then were audacious enough to put a pool over the retail."

48 PSU-ASRC-Night Shot of North Elevation[1].jpg

2012 Facility of Merit Winner: California State University Northridge Student Recreation Center

Situated on the outer fringe of the CSU Northridge campus between future sports fields to the east and existing campus buildings to the west, the site of this new recreation center provided an opportunity for the building to delineate a new campus edge to the community, while establishing a terminus to the campus' main pedestrian axis. Utilizing this singular position, the east faÃ§ade is comprised primarily of glass, creating a "human billboard" that reveals the activities within and addresses the university's desire to advertise the recreation programs provided by the university. It's the west faÃ§ade that really caught the judges' attention, however: The three-story lobby is protected by a perforated metal veil that allows the introduction of light and maintains visibility of activities, but reads differently depending on the time of day. Commented one judge, "It's monolithic and solid by day, providing a continual play of shadows as the light changes, and transforming in the twilight to a transparent vision - a building in flux."

54csunsrc6[1].jpg

Page 569 of 695

AB Show 2026 in Orlando

AB Show is a solution-focused event for athletics, fitness, recreation and military professionals.

Nov. 17-19, 2026

Buyer's Guide

Information on more than 3,000 companies, sorted by category. Listings are updated daily.