Bubble to Limit Summer Use of Fletcher

Author: Khairani Barokka

Fletcher Field House will be closed on Monday, April 22, when renovation will begin on its walls, roof and squash courts, according to final schedules of the Office of Facilities Planning. Fletcher's walls and roof will be removed in the subsequent two weeks, after which the old squash courts will be replaced with five new international-regulation courts in mid-July. Finally, a temporary air-supported structure or bubble will be set up beginning in mid-August.

Special Adviser to the Director of Athletics Mickey Heinecken explained that the renovations await the athletics department's last college event, a tennis tournament, scheduled for this weekend. Otherwise, Heinecken said that all plans seem to be in place for the project. Both Project Manager of Facilities Planning Tom McGinn and Executive Vice President of Facilities Planning David Ginevan were confident that the weather, which caused postponement of work on Fletcher last October, would be favorable for construction.

Facilities Planning expects the five new semi-portable squash courts to arrive from Germany on July 15. As the construction of each court will take under one week, it is hoped that overall work on them will be completed within one month.

Following installment of the squash courts, McGinn explained, will be what promises to be the most visually prominent feature of Fletcher, the $2-million white-lined bubble that will be situated in place of the old roof by six pounds of air pressure. McGinn said that the bubble's supplier is Yadon International, an Ottawa-based manufacturer of similar structures, who "can put [the bubble] up in less than three weeks." Ginevan added that, "We would like to have had a bubble that let daylight in." However, energy concerns about the structure's emission of light at night prevented such a choice.

The permit for the bubble is for 10 years, and its warranty for 20. While long-term plans exist for the replacement of Fletcher with a new permanent athletics facility, Ginevan said the timing for such a project was uncertain, and that it is "all a matter of priorities, with the building of the new library, Atwater Commons, Starr [Library Building]." Ginevan noted the College's long list of priorities for funding projects and that Fletcher is currently not at the top of that list, although it will be eventually. However, he said, "It is not an insignificant amount of money the College is spending on [Fletcher]."

Heinecken said, on behalf of the athletics department on the temporary placement of the bubble structure, "Speaking selfishly, we'd like it to be as short a period of time as possible. But I don't think anybody's anticipating anything happening in the near future. I think it really has to do with College fundraising priorities, and that will be the determining factor. But certainly, from everything we've been led to believe, this is not just a two-year [period]."

Heinecken acknowledged that Fletcher's facilities would not be available to Language Schools students and athletic practices this summer. Sports teams would have to either practice in Nelson Arena or outdoors. Heinecken commented that "losing three or four potential weeks at the end of April and May" is "a pretty good trade off"to have Fletcher and its new facilities in the fall. "From the department's standpoint, we have a net gain," he said.

"It's going to look a little different on Route 30," Heinecken remarked of the proposed white bubble. "But it's not like the bubble is replacing an architectural gem. Probably the bubble will be more pleasing to the eye than Fletcher."