UTICA — Utica College has added a new athletic venue on its campus and is preparing for renovation work on an existing facility. Utica College (UC) on Dec. 12 dedicated the $8 million Todd and Jen Hutton Sports and Recreation Center, a new 135,000-square-foot, multi-sport, recreational air dome. “From groundbreaking to dedication, it was about […]
UTICA — Utica College has added a new athletic venue on its campus and is preparing for renovation work on an existing facility.
Utica College (UC) on Dec. 12 dedicated the $8 million Todd and Jen Hutton Sports and Recreation Center, a new 135,000-square-foot, multi-sport, recreational air dome.
“From groundbreaking to dedication, it was about eight months,” says David Fontaine, UC’s director of athletics and physical education, referring to the construction time involved.
He spoke with CNYBJ on April 18.
The college is also preparing for renovation work at the Harold T. Clark, Jr. Athletic Center.
New York has awarded the school $2.5 million in matching state funds toward improvements at the Clark Center.
Harold (Tom) Clark, Jr. and his wife Bernadette pledged $1.4 million toward the construction of the air dome, according to ucpioneers.com, the website of Utica College Pioneers, the school’s athletic teams.
Air dome
Utica College has 25 intercollegiate sports and has “outgrown” its facilities, something Fontaine called “a good problem.”
The school has a track and field team, which didn’t have any facilities when it started about five years ago.
“We were running in the hallways,” says Fontaine.
The idea of a multi-sport, air-supported structure came up during a meeting in the fall of 2014.
Syracuse–based Hayner Hoyt Corporation served as the general contractor on the project, which Fontaine describes as “the second largest air-supported structure in North America.”
New Hartford–based Alesia & Crewell Architects P.C. designed the facility and Minneapolis, Minnesota–based Yeadon manufactured it, according to ucpioneers.com.
The facility includes an eight-lane, 200-meter track, “multiple” throwing circles, two pole-vault areas, two sand pits, a weight room, and four multi-purpose courts in the middle of track, which can accommodate volleyball, tennis, and basketball, according to Fontaine.
Since it opened in December, the facility has hosted Utica College track meets and local high-school track meets as well.
“We’ve had Section II and Section III track meets in the dome. It’s been very well received,” says Fontaine.
Clark Athletic Center
Utica College is also working on plans for improvements to its Clark Athletic Center.
“We’re in a building that was [constructed] for 12 sports and we have 25,” says Fontaine.
The renovation work has yet to begin. School officials have discussed a possible repair of the pool, locker-room expansions; and adding coaching offices.
“I think the details are still being worked out,” he adds.
Utica College hasn’t yet secured a contractor or architect for the upcoming work at the Clark Center, he notes.
The state is providing the $2.5 million in funding through the Higher Education Capital Matching Grants Program (HECap), New York State Senator Joseph Griffo (R–Rome) and New York State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (D–Utica) said in a Feb. 5 news release.
Utica College applied for the HECap grant in 2015 and will target those dollars for the Clark renovations.
The school hasn’t determined how much the renovation work at the Clark facility will cost, says Fontaine.
The HECap program awards grants to private colleges and universities in New York based on enrollment and relative student financial need, with an eye toward economic development, high technology, urban renewal, or historic preservation.
The program matches $1 in state funding for every $3 raised for these college projects, according to the lawmakers.
Griffo and Brindisi say the funding is a way to “further enhance the appeal of Utica College at a time when the institution is improving the educational experience it offers.”
“This amazing new sports and recreation center fills such an important need and provides so many wonderful opportunities for our students as well as the greater Utica community,” Todd Hutton, president of Utica College, said in the lawmakers’ release. “The facility, along with the renovations to the Harold T. Clark, Jr. Athletic Center, not only offer a premier athletic training and competition venues for our students, but support many campus-wide wellness education initiatives, including our new wellness and adventure education degree program.”
Utica College made headlines in October 2015 when it announced plans to reduce the cost of undergraduate tuition by 42 percent. The school is slashing tuition from just over $34,000 to just under $20,000.
The tuition “reset,” as Utica College calls it, will take effect this fall for all new and returning students in the on-campus, undergraduate program.