(Image taken from skidmore.edu)
In an email sent on Feb. 18, President Philip Glotzbach announced that the start of construction on the new Athletics Facilities project has been paused. The campus-wide message outlines concerns from community members about environmental and financial sustainability, as well as the future of the campus’ Greenberg Child Care Center (GCCC), as responsible for the update.
According to SGA Executive President David Robakdize ‘20, the project being on pause does not mean that anything around it has stopped. Instead, it means that the ground will not be broken and no big decisions are being made as of now.
The email comes after President Glotzbach sent a six-page memo on Feb. 13 describing the decision and why the concerns — which resulted in a mid-December campus-wide petition — may be justified but do not outweigh the need for this project.
One of the main concerns regarding the construction of the athletic facilities was the building's lack of some sustainability features that are present in the college’s recent construction project the Center for Integrated Sciences (CIS). Referring to this concern, Robakdize said that he “know[s] that as the project comes closer to completion, there will be more updates.”
He also mentioned “a lot for excitement” regarding further potential involvement from the Sustainability Committee.
Levi Rogers, Director of Sustainability Programs and Assessment, is currently only aware of investigations into geothermal and solar options, saying more time is needed to know if either solutions are feasible. He recognized that “Additional investments may increase upfront costs, but these investments could lower operating costs” and later “provide favorable economic returns.”
Another concern that was cited in the most recent email from the President’s Office is the possible relocation of the GCCC, a source for professors and other employees with younger children. In the initial memo, Glotzbach mentioned that the cabinet is “working now to explore possibilities for moving” the GCCC, but added that “it is likely that such a move would add something in the neighborhood of $1M to this project.”
The Athletics Facilities project, as it is referred to by the President and his office, comes from the 2007 Campus Plan, and, according to the memo, planning for it has been underway since 2010.
The goals of the project “were to address our needs around fitness, including changing spaces and workout spaces for both teams and other groups.” The Athletics Council was notified last spring of new proposals, and approved plans were described at Community Meetings on Oct. 29 and at an Open Forum on Nov. 25.
However, the President also acknowledges that there could have been more done last spring to “inform and involve” the IPPC. Continuing comments were discussed at a later IPPC meeting on Fri., Feb. 14, after which it was decided to pause construction in order to further address and consider concerns.
Glotzbach urges students and concerned community members to attend an Open Forum that will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Thurs., March 5 in Gannett Auditorium. There will also be community meetings at both 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tues., March 3 on the second floor of the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall.
Skidmore’s Student Affairs has also scheduled its own opportunities for students to either learn more about the facility or raise their complaints. These, however, will be announced at another time. There will also be suggestion boxes and posters found around campus in the coming days.
The survey sent out by SGA on Jan. 15 concerning the athletics facilities project is still live, and will be used by the President’s Cabinet and IPPC to gather more input. It can be completed here. Robakidze says that “Hopefully by the end of this semester — when the original construction was supposed to start — we will have all this feedback and there will be clearer steps in how to move forward.”