Coliseum Renovations
January 29, 2004 05:54 PM | General
January 29, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Although you might not be able to detect it going to basketball games this winter, a lot of work has already been done to the WVU Coliseum in order to get the aging facility back up to par with its Big East competitors.
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| Excavation work on the locker rooms on the Green Gate side of the Coliseum is nearly complete. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
According to Russ Sharp, Associate Athletic Director for Finance and Administration, contractor G A Brown & Sons, Inc. from Fairmont is well into the first part of a three-phase process to refurbish the 33-year-old facility.
Work is almost complete to renovate additional space downstairs to house equipment like the scorer’s tables, chairs, benches and wrestling mats. That area was formerly occupied by Sodexho, which operates and manages Coliseum concessions. Sodexho has been moved up to the main floor into a recently renovated racquet ball court.
“That’s really the first thing that had to happen,” said Sharp, who says that process was more than just a casual undertaking. “We renovated two racquet ball courts and turned them into concession space. It was more than just housekeeping.”
At the same time, the area that once housed physical education’s equipment room is being renovated into a new athletic equipment room. PE has now been moved over to the WVU Shell Building into a space that athletics once used. That move took place Wednesday and Sharp says that will now enable the contractor to begin excavation work.
“That was a critical thing because now they’re going to knock a big hole in that wall and raze that area to move in large equipment in order to remove all of the materials they’ve taken down to this point,” said Sharp. “That includes all of the locker rooms they have removed along the Green Gate side of the Coliseum.”
Those locker rooms, underneath the student section, are where the new men’s and women’s locker rooms will be joined by a team theatre. Sharp estimates that by the first part of next week the majority of the demolition work will be completed on that side.
Once that is completed, the next phase is to begin construction on the new athletic equipment area.
“All of that area is going to be double decked with a mezzanine,” said Sharp. “We’ll have two washers and dryers moved into the new equipment room.”
If all goes according to plan, the new athletic equipment space will be completed by the end of spring. Simultaneously, construction will take place on the locker rooms and team theatre. Sharp says at least one of the locker rooms must be finished by the beginning of August.
“We need one of them available, either men’s or the women’s basketball, so when volleyball comes back to campus they can use that,” he said.
“By about the first of October we need volleyball’s locker room, the training room, the weight room and the two basketball locker rooms done in time for practice,” Sharp noted.
The weight room and the expanded athletic training facility will encompass the entire part of the arena underneath the Gold Gate side where the equipment and basketball locker rooms are now. The final phase of the Coliseum project will be the club seating area underneath the press row side of the Coliseum.
“They will have that area decked and then they have got an extra month or so until the middle of November to get the two club spaces done,” he said.
Sharp is certain the contractor will be able to meet a very tight time deadline, “We’ve got a good contractor and we’re confident that they will be able to make the schedule and accommodate all of our athletic teams and fans.”
Sharp concedes that there will be interruptions for commencement, a John Mayer concert this spring and the Special Olympics opening ceremony in early June.
“The contractor is aware of these things and we’re just going to work through them. They’ve got a great attitude about it and they’re going to accommodate the needs of the people that use the building,” he said.
Sharp noted that a separate Coliseum project is also about to get underway. The Coliseum roof, an eyesore for years, will be replaced this summer.
“Right now the architect that we’ve hired is completing the designs for the roof and getting the bid documents ready,” he said. “We hope to put that out soon and the plan is to begin working on the replacement of the roof right after commencement in May.”
Sharp estimates that project will take “three to four months” to complete.
Across campus at Mountaineer Field, Sharp says contractor March Westin is making good progress on the construction of Stadium Suites despite cold temperatures and snowy conditions for most of January.
“They can handle the cold; it’s the moisture that creates all of the problems,” said Sharp. “It can’t be cold, cold, but they are protecting the concrete with heaters.”
Sharp says the athletic department has a meeting every week to keep abreast on the progress of that project.
“We sit down with them for a couple hours talking about it,” said Sharp. “We’re also in daily contact with the contractor.”
According to Sharp, the remaining portion of the substantial capital improvement project bid last fall is also about to begin with the construction of the new soccer stadium. That project is scheduled to get underway next week and Sharp doesn’t anticipate there being any logistical problems with the new State Police facility being constructed right behind the soccer facility.
“They’ve got their own access,” said Sharp.
Mosites Construction Company from Pittsburgh won the bid to construct the new soccer stadium. Sharp expects the 1,800-seat facility to be completed by late summer.
