By: Deborah Johnson Wood
It’s an athlete’s Utopia.
After 21 months of construction, Calvin College’s $49.5 million Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex will open in time for a January 7 basketball double-header. The 350,000-square-foot complex surrounds an existing fieldhouse, creating several state-of-the-art athletic, aquatic, fitness and physical education centers.
“The original fieldhouse was completed in 1965, so this has been a major upgrade for Calvin’s sports and athletic department,” says David Wilkins of GMB Architects-Engineers, the architect and engineer of record for the project. “It’s been a challenge to get the equipment in there because it’s such a tight space and we have about 150 contractors on-site every day.”
A two-story-high climbing wall greets visitors in the new lobby.
A 15,000-square-foot fitness center overlooks campus through an 18-foot-high, 160-foot-long window wall.
The Van Noord Arena seats 5,000 spectators on two levels, with a hospitality suite on the third level. The arena features a main court, two cross-courts, and two upper-side gymnasiums for additional practice space for basketball or volleyball. The third level features a dance studio. A removable stage equips it for live performances.
The Venema Aquatic Center contains a 50-meter pool with eight competition lanes and one- and three-meter diving platforms. The pool will be open for community use and swimming instruction.
A 200-meter track and four tennis courts provide indoor field-event space at the 55,000-square-foot Huizenga Tennis and Track Center.
The existing fieldhouse, renamed the Hoogenboom Health and Recreation Center, makes up the center of the complex; its renovation provides new offices for the Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance and Sport department, classroom space, and exam rooms for student health services.
Source: David Wilkins, GMB Architects-Engineers
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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