Perennial Leakage Forces College to Consider Fletcher's Future

Author: Bob Wainwright

In one of the mildest winters in recent memory, Fletcher Field House was closed down for the first time this year last Wednesday due to leakage from the roof and slippery patches on the floor. This should be the last year for the old Fletcher roof, however, as the College has committed to plans to replace the 23-year-old structure with a bubble this summer.

Unlike a year ago, when Fletcher was closed for an entire week in February in order for Facilities Management to perform an investigation on the roof, this time concerns were limited to the danger that the leaks could pose to athletes. After being shut down for one day, Fletcher was reopened Thursday and has remained usable since.

"Any time we have rain and the leaks in the roof open up again and we have moisture on the floor, we have to close it [Fletcher] down due to safety purposes," explained Bob Smith, coach of the baseball team.

Smith also said that for the teams that use Fletcher this time of year regularly, namely baseball, softball and track, working around the wet spots on the floor is not too much of a problem. Yet, athletes who use Fletcher unsupervised might not be aware of the troublesome areas and consequently pose a greater concern.

Although Fletcher has been shut down at least once in each of the past four years, last winter marked the first time it needed to be closed for an extended period. According to Special Adviser to the Director of Athletics Mickey Heinecken, "The leaking in Fletcher has been a periodic nuisance that we have had to put up with, and it has progressed over the years. Fortunately, this year has been pretty good, because we've been in a drought. But something needs to be done."

Despite a clean bill of health last February after thorough structural testing, the building's massive leakage issues did prompt the College to seek a permit from the state of Vermont to tear down the walls and roof and replace them with a bubble. The bubble would then serve as a suitable replacement until a time when the entire facility might be rebuilt.

The College did not receive its permit in time to do something right away. Facilities Planning Project Manager Tom McGinn explained, "We did not get our state permits in time. In fact, we got them in October when it was too late weather-wise to take down Fletcher."

Now that the College has everything in place, the work is scheduled to begin directly after Commencement in May, as Fletcher serves as a back-up location for the ceremony. Once the walls and roof are removed, structural work will be done in order to support the bubble.

The old squash courts will also be removed and will be replaced with five, new, international style courts to be shipped in from Germany. According to McGinn, the project should be completed before the fall semester begins.

The plan to include the international-style squash courts was tremendous news to women's squash coach David Saward, whose team has not had a single home match in six years. As schools have gradually shifted to using the wider, international courts, rather than the narrow, American ones, schools such as Middlebury have been forced to play all of their matches on the road.

When asked if the addition of the new courts would enable his team to host matches next season, Saward was optimistic. "It's certainly something we can work towards," he said. "I would like to say, 'Yes.' I can promise that once we have them, we'll be working hard to get teams to play on them."

Saward also mentioned the possibility of creating a Middlebury invitational tournament. "It's a different game, when you play on the wide [international] courts," he stated. "It's like practicing on half a tennis court and then playing your matches on a full one."

As far as dealing with Fletcher for the remainder of the spring season, neither softball captain Amanda Bohnsack '02 nor baseball captain John Cormier '02 seemed concerned. While both teams use the facility until the weather permits them to move outside, they have long grown accustomed to Fletcher's propensity to leak.

In some respects, the puddles might even be a blessing in disguise. According to Cormier, "I don't think the leaks have had a big effect on our practices. Anyway, in baseball, we're always going to have to battle the elements. So, the Field House is actually providing us with a really authentic atmosphere."