WPI will break ground for its new Sports and Recreation Center at a ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 14. Hosted by President Dennis Berkey, the ceremony will be attended by members of the WPI Board of Trustees and the campus community. Construction of the center is set to begin the following week and conclude in August 2012.
"The Sports and Recreation Center is an exciting and much needed addition to the WPI campus," President Dennis Berkey said. "Students have cited the Sports and Recreation Center as the most important campus need. The new center will provide substantially more space for our growing population of students, faculty, and staff, and their avid interests in sports and recreation."
The new 140,000-square-foot facility will provide 14,000 square feet of fitness space, a four-court gym, a competition-length pool, new squash and racquetball courts, and an indoor jogging track. The center will provide attractive space for large-scale events, such as admissions open houses, career fairs, and national academic conferences. In addition, the facility will have space dedicated to WPI’s robotics program, and will enable WPI to support regional and national robotics competitions.
The Sports and Recreation Center will be built into the hillside at the west end of the WPI Quadrangle, presenting an attractive two-story facade to the main campus and a dramatic five-story facade to the playing fields below. As part of the construction, a connecting structure between Harrington Auditorium and Alumni Gymnasium will be removed, opening a picturesque greenway from the Quadrangle to the Higgins House gardens. The project will also set the stage for later work that will enable WPI to fulfill the Board of Trustees' master plan for removing parked cars from Quad and converting Alumni Gym to academic use.
- Learn more about the WPI Sports and Recreation Center and see architectural renderings and floor plans.
