New Projects: Sacred Heart Hockey Arena | San Francisco Waldorf High School

Breaking Ground

Sacred Heart University broke ground in March on its $70 million ice hockey arena. The 122,158-square-foot facility — a collaboration among JLG Architects, SLAM Collaborative, Dimensional Innovations and Consigli Construction — will feature amenities such as locker rooms, a world-class strength and conditioning center, a sports medicine and hydrotherapy suite, a rapid-shot puck room, team meeting and lounge space, and a standard NHL-sized rink. The project is expected to be completed by January 2023.

The city of Morristown, Tenn., celebrated the groundbreaking of Morristown Landing — a 100,000-square-foot indoor recreation, wellness and events venue. The facility will feature a six-lane, 25-yard lap pool, a family aquatics center, a fitness center, a fieldhouse with basketball and volleyball courts, climbing walls, meeting and event space, and an outdoor splashpad. Construction is slated for completion by summer 2022.

Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., broke ground on a new boathouse facility for its men's and women's rowing programs. The facility includes expanded boat storage, an operations area, a team meeting room and coaches' offices.

First Pitch

The University of New Mexico announced it had received a $1 million gift from New Mexico Mutual, which will support the construction of the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center. The facility is expected to be between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet, and will nearly double the school's current strength and conditioning space with amenities such as athletic performance equipment and technology.

The University of Rhode Island announced that it had received a $3 million gift to support the school's men's and women's basketball training facilities. Plans call for a renovation of West Gymnasium into a dedicated practice facility, which will replace the Thomas M. Ryan Center as the teams' primary practice space. The dedicated facility will provide athletes with 24-hour access, and no longer require the teams to schedule around community events and concerts.

The University of Alabama has secured a $500,000 commitment to fund the construction of the Parker-Haun Tennis Facility, which will serve the school's university recreation and wheelchair tennis programs. The 5,400-square-foot facility will include locker rooms, a trainer's room, restrooms and coaches' offices, and is believed to be the only tennis facility in the country focused on adaptive sports student-athletes.

Grand Openings

[Photos © Garry Belinksky Photography - David Bushnell Center for Athletics and Community]

San Francisco Waldorf High School recently opened the David Bushnell Center for Athletics and Community. The $12 million, 9,282-square-foot facility, designed by 450 Architects, includes a multipurpose space that will serve as a campus hub for athletics, performances and community events. A 358-seat gymnasium can double as a flexible performance space for school and community programs, with the ability to accommodate up to 970 people for events such as graduations.

The University of Oregon track and field program hosted the first event — the Hayward Premier — at its new Hayward Field in April. The $200 million facility features 12,650 permanent seats, and is expandable to nearly 25,000 for larger events. Additional amenities include a nine-lane track, an indoor pole vault practice space, men's and women's locker rooms, sports medicine facilities, a hydrotherapy room, a weight room and a theater-style team meeting room.

The city of Orangeburg, S.C., recently opened a new athletic field complex. The $18 million facility will promote sports tourism to the area, featuring baseball and softball fields, walking trails and green space.

This article originally appeared in the May 2021 issue of Athletic Business with the title "Forward Progress." Athletic Business is a free magazine for professionals in the athletic, fitness and recreation industry. Click here to subscribe.