Board Approves Plans For Indoor Sports Facility At University Park, Residence Hall At Erie

11-7-97
University Park, Pa. -- Preliminary sketch plans for an indoor multi-sport facility at University Park and a residence hall at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, were approved Nov. 7 by the Board of Trustees. The board also approved names for a new football training facility, the former Zetachron Building in Ferguson Twp., and residence halls at Penn State-Behrend.

The new indoor track facility, just south of the Bryce Jordan Center, will be used both for varsity and recreation sports. The new facility will replace the existing indoor track facility in the old ice skating rink at the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex, and the existing facility will be razed to make space for a new football training facility.

The new 128,150-square-foot facility is being designed by the joint venture firm of Hoffman-Popovich of Boalsburg and NBBJ of Columbus, Ohio. It will house a 200-meter track and sprint lanes, four basketball courts inside the track oval, a multi-purpose, artificial-turf practice field, locker rooms and storage space, and 800 seats for spectators.

The estimated construction cost for the project is $10.6 million.

Measuring 578 feet by 219 feet, the new facility will be oriented at right angles to the existing outdoor track near the Jordan Center. The main pedestrian access will be at the north end. A pedestrian walkway will extend from University Drive, run along the Jordan Center's service drive, and lead to the new facility's main entrance. Alongside the walkway will be an open space large enough for a soccer field.

The exterior of the building will be made of brick that matches the exterior of the Jordan Center. Its arched roof will have a standing seam metal surface. The north gable end will be enclosed with glass, to highlight activities inside the facility.

The new residence hall at Penn State-Behrend, the second building in a three-building project, will be a 75,327-square-foot, four-story building that will house about 265 students. It will include 64 single-occupant rooms and 96 double-occupant rooms, 9 single rooms for resident hall assistants and disabled students, as well as lounge and study spaces.

The building is being designed by Hoffman-Popovich Architects and Associates of Boalsburg. The total project budget is $10.9 million.

The board also:

-- Named a new football training facility at University Park the Louis E. Lasch Football Building. The name is now being used for the existing football building, which will be used for other sports when the new facility is built.

-- Named the former Zetachron building, at 1981 Pine Hall Rd., Ferguson Twp., the Zetachron Center for Science and Technology Business Development. The building is being renovated for use as a science and technology business incubator.

-- Named two proposed residence halls at Penn State-Behrend -- Ohio Hall and Trippe Hall. The names are in keeping with the tradition of naming Penn State-Behrend's residence halls after ships and military personnel involved in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The "Ohio" was a schooner and the "Trippe" a one-gun sloop.

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Contact: Alan Janesch (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 867-3621 (home) axj12@psu.edu