Grand Rapids' Aquinas College invests $7M in athletic facility renovation, shoots for big win

Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids' Aquinas College has begun a massive overhaul of its outdated athletic facility that promises to transform the 1957 structure into a showplace for college sports and fitness training.

The existing facility on the north side of the campus was mostly gymnasium. The basketball and volleyball courts ran north-south, but will be reoriented to east-west in the center of the main level. That makes room for the addition of interior second levels to the north and south, says Scott Vyn, design director for Integrated Architecture, the firm that designed the new structure.

The $7 million renovation includes a new student fitness/workout room, new concessions, locker rooms, classrooms, coaches' offices and the Aquinas Hall of Fame.

"We made this change for multiple reasons," says Greg Meyer, Aquinas' associate vice president for advancement. "The building was built 40 years ago when we had six sports and we now have 18. But the primary reason was admissions. At any college now, students look at the academic side and the quality of life on campus; not having a fitness center was a handicap to us."

Having three classrooms and a training room in the facility provides a setting where students will train and learn as part of their academic program, Meyer says.

The structure will be certified as LEED-NC (new construction) due to the extent of the rebuild and the incorporation of sustainable elements such as re-insulating the entire structure and adding windows around the building.

The finished facility will sport a grander Fulton Street entrance some two stories high with columns, bronze panels, glass and ground face masonry.

The project is phase 1 of a $12 million plan that will eventually add an intramural building to the west that will house an indoor track and intramural basketball and volleyball courts.

Phase 1 will be completed in August 2010.

Rockford Construction is the construction manager.

Source: Scott Vyn, Integrated Architecture; Greg Meyer, Aquinas College

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].