(Picture taken from: https://skidmoreathletics.com/)
On Monday, Nov. 25, right before Thanksgiving break, Gannett Auditorium was as packed as ever with faculty, staff and other community members attending an open forum held by the President's cabinet regarding plans for new athletic facilities.
The goals of the project “were to address our needs around fitness, including changing spaces and workout spaces for both teams and other groups.” Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics Gail Cummings-Danson reiterated in the community meeting that there have been concerns regarding not having enough space for non-athletes students and general members of the community, and “we have known that we don’t have enough space for awhile.”
Although the planning procedure for athletic facilities was initiated back in 2007, the somewhat changed project has been revitalized this year with approval from the Board of Trustees during this semester.
The project has two phases: Phase one, will focus on the construction and repair of outside and indoor tennis courts, which will benefit the tennis team as well as recreational tennis players. The same phase will also include a new two-story fitness building with a “strength and conditioning room” that will benefit the entire campus. Completion of this phase of the project is scheduled for 2021. As for Phase two, it will explore the possibility of construction of a hockey rink.
There are a myriad of reasons that the College is moving forward with the project, including an effort towards improving the “overall picture of fitness on campus,” according to President Glotzbach. The timeline of the building is also partially shaped by the fact that the tennis' team contract with the YMCA for use of their indoor tennis facilities will be expiring in 2021, with the unlikely possibility of renewal.
Regarding whether the building's features have included enough community input more recently, President Glotzbach responded that: “Every design includes trade-off. This design does not do everything we need, but it does a lot.”
The facilities will not include some of the sustainable features that the College’s newest buildings, Zankel Music Center (2010) and the Center for Integrated Sciences have . Although it will have LED lighting and occupancy sensors in some of the rooms, it will not be run by geothermal energy, a key feature of the college’s most recent buildings.
Vice President of Finance and Administration Donna Ng mentioned that there has been a discussion regarding the possibility of geothermal energy for the project with the sustainability subcommittee, but due to the expenses of the building, which are currently at 16.2 $ million for phase I, the budget for now cannot account for it.
However, she said: “I did make a commitment that when we have the hockey [phase II of the project] and when we get the funding for the hockey, we will do the best in that time to explore geothermal further.”
A member of the crowd mentioned that geothermal energy for heating and cooling could also make financial sense depending on the payback period. Ng responded that it’s a “very large amount of money for it from a payback perceptive and especially for the type of building.”
In an interview with The Skidmore News, Levi Rogers, Director of Sustainability Office and Chair of the Sustainability Subcommittee, said that the building will have the capacity to be transitioned to geothermal and solar energy in case future developments allow that progress — similarly to the Tang Teaching Museum and the Dance Building.
The project is in early stages, and many of the details regarding its impact on the College’s sustainability goals remains tentative, according to Rogers. But the project is predicted to increase electricity consumption, and lower the use of electricity from renewable sources. In addition, it will increase greenhouse emissions as well as natural gas usage.
Another concern that arose during the community meeting was how the project will affect Greenberg Child Care Center, which would border the construction project, Dean of Students Cerri Bank said that:
“There has been a range of conversation, should we move Greenberg? Should we leave Greenberg?” She continued, “Greenberg is still in the plan, and moving forward as we talk about other things, we will talk more about Greenberg.”
Feryaz Ocakli, Professor of Political Science, expressed the sentiment that the Greenberg Center should be at the center of the conversation and not an afterthought.
In a follow-up statement to the paper, Ocakli stated that the construction process will “Potentially be unhealthy for the children, disturb their sleep due to noise, and take away the green space they use in good weather to run outside.”
He also said that the center is especially important for faculty and staff with younger children and helps the College: “Attract and retain new faculty members who are concerned about the wellbeing of their families while starting their careers at Skidmore.”
Nancy Wheeler, the Director of The Greenberg Center, responded to The Skidmore News’ request for further comment saying: “It is best not to comment at this time.”
Students were strikingly absent from the conversation as the event’s advertising email was only sent to faculty and other community members.
Dean of Students Cerri Banks apologized for the mistake and said that she thought that the email was sent to the entirety of the campus.
VP for Financial Affairs Abby Ciccarone ’22 stated to the Skidmore News that there was a possible glitch in the system. Ciccarone told the Skidmore News that Student Government Association will work in conjunction with Dean Banks to ensure that students are a part of the conversation moving forward.
“This space will be for students,” she mentioned, “so there will be conversations on how can we make it something that all students can utilize.”
Both Ciccarone and SGA President David Robakidze ’20 confirmed that they will send out surveys to gauge the conversation. Students can also expect open forums to discuss the plan and give feedback to occur sometime next semester.
Banks was reached out for a follow-up comment but didn’t respond before the publication of this story.
The was a previous error in the original story; this has since then been changed.