{"id":9172,"date":"2012-02-14T10:59:20","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T15:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cpo\/?p=9172"},"modified":"2012-02-15T14:17:23","modified_gmt":"2012-02-15T19:17:23","slug":"9172","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cpo\/2012\/02\/14\/9172\/","title":{"rendered":"New Sports Field Coming to West Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WEST<\/p>\n

Space for men\u2019s varsity lacrosse with $3 million from New Balance
\n<\/p>\n

By Amy Sutherland<\/a><\/p>\n

\"WEST<\/a>
New Balance Field on West Campus, which will open in fall 2013, will make it possible for BU to add sports teams. Rendering courtesy of Clough Harbor and Associates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Athletic shoe manufacturer New Balance<\/a> has pledged $3 million to Boston University for a new and much-needed sports field that will greatly improve athletic and recreational life at the school on many levels.<\/p>\n

New Balance Field will be built on Babcock Street, near Nickerson Field, and will open in fall 2013. It will effectively double BU\u2019s field capacity, making it possible to bring field hockey back to campus and to add varsity sports, notably a men\u2019s varsity lacrosse team, which will play its premier season the following spring at Nickerson Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Boston-based company with a long-standing commitment to promoting health and fitness and giving back to the local community, we are excited to help provide this valuable athletic resource for the Boston University community,\u201d says Robert DeMartini, president and CEO of New Balance. \u201cWe share Boston University\u2019s passion and dedication to continued innovation and excellence in sport, and enhancing the lives of their student-athletes and the greater Boston University community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Balance Field will be a major addition to our athletic and recreational facilities,\u201d says President Robert A. Brown. \u201cI am very grateful to New Balance for its leadership and support and to our alumni who have given generously to make this facility a reality. The field will benefit not only our student-athletes and the greater BU community, but it will allow us to expand our very successful NCAA Division 1 athletics program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University will break ground for the 110,000-square-foot field this spring, shortly after Commencement. New Balance Field will fill the BU-owned block surrounded by Babcock, Gardner, Alcorn, and Ashford Streets. Gary Nicksa, senior vice president for operations, says the open-air field will have a brick facade and stadium seating for 1,000. A 350-space parking garage will be built under the field, with an entrance on Ashford Street. The total cost of the field and the parking area is estimated at $24 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new field is a highly imaginative use of precious space in an urban environment,\u201d says Todd Klipp, BU senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the Board of Trustees. \u201cIt will have an enormous impact on athletic and recreational life here, not only for our sports teams, but for the entire BU community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
A parking lot and a BU building will be razed to construct the new field. Photo courtesy of Cannon Design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A second athletic field is a welcome solution to a space crunch on a campus where 3 varsity teams and nearly 200 intramural teams vie for space on one field. Nickerson Field has been so heavily used that the artificial turf that should have lasted 15 years had to be replaced after 8. Michael Lynch, assistant vice president and director of athletics, says that Nickerson is booked solid with games and practices from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day for weeks ahead. It is often necessary to reserve the field six months in advance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The women\u2019s varsity field hockey team had to leave Nickerson after the 2000 season, when Field Turf, which is too spongy and slow for the sport, was installed. The nationally ranked team has not played or practiced at BU for the past 11 years, but has had to be bused to games and daily practices at MIT or Harvard. Coach Sally Starr has also had to recruit players for a team with no field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new field is huge,\u201d Starr says. \u201cNow we\u2019ll have one of the best fields in the conference. It will help our recruiting greatly. We already have two top players committed for 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

BU is jumping into Division 1 varsity men\u2019s lacrosse at the right time, Lynch says. Currently 61 schools compete nationally at the Division 1 level, and Harvard is the only school in the Boston area with a Division 1 lacrosse team. \u201cIt\u2019s a sport that is really hot here in New England,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are hoping to be a national leader here.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the funding in place for the field, Lynch will start raising money for the team. He plans to build the program slowly, as he did with women\u2019s hockey. A coach and staff will be hired next year, but the program\u2019s scholarships won\u2019t be fully funded until the fourth year.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a budget perspective, it\u2019s more prudent that way,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can evaluate things as we go forward. We are building a team for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n

BU will also add a women\u2019s varsity lightweight rowing team next fall. \u201cThis will put us in the class with some of the best schools,\u201d Lynch says. The rowing program has been rebuilding over the past few seasons, he says, and the addition should help it return to the national rankings it had in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

New Balance Field will also make it possible for BU to increase the number of intramural sports, such as ultimate Frisbee, and to bring back club sports that have had to play off campus, such as the men\u2019s and women\u2019s rugby.<\/p>\n

The field will beautify a rather unsightly parcel on campus. Currently, a large surface parking lot fills most of the block. A run-down brick building housing the BU band and ROTC programs, as well as surplus office furniture, dominates the corner of Babcock and Gardner Streets. That building will be knocked down and the programs and stored furniture relocated.<\/p>\n

A pocket park with trees will flank the field\u2019s western side, adding a touch of green to a pavement-heavy stretch of West Campus. The brick facade around the field will have several openings, so rugby huddles and students chasing down Frisbees can be easily seen from the surrounding streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor BU,\u201d says Lynch, \u201cNew Balance Field will be transformative.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in BU Today on 2\/14\/12<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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