 "Photo: Chelsi Baker/The Daily Athenaeum")
Just five months after breaking ground on a $19 million basketball practice facility, workers have made significant progress in construction of the facility.
West Virginia University’s Capital Projects Manager Bill Linn said the facility, which is being constructed in between the WVU Coliseum and the Core Arboretum, is expected to be completed by the 2011-12 basketball season.
He praised the Massaro Corporation, who had the lowest bid for the project in December 2009.
WVU’s Associate Director of Design Construction, John Thompson, is pleased with the work completed by Massaro thus far. Massaro renovated Oglebay Hall on the Downtown campus in 2007 and 2008.
"They did a very good job on that project," Thompson said. "They are continuing to do great work with the basketball practice facility."
Although progress has been made, the practice facility is still in its early stages. Work must be done to contract out all of the work after Massaro completes general contracting.
"There are other work packages that we are contracting with separately to complete such as the wood flooring for the gyms, the furniture packages and the displays and graphics packages," Linn said. "All of those are work packages that would be completed after the general contracting is done."
WVU Deputy Athletic Director Mike Parsons said it is "amazing" the amount of progress Massaro has "over a relatively short period of time."
"Granted, you are seeing a lot of steel going up, but it is giving you the scope and size of the building," Parsons said. "Overall it is a very impressive site."
Parsons said the facility will be of great significance to the Mountaineers’ basketball programs.
"This gives us one more tool to compete in the world of intercollegiate athletics, particularly college basketball" Parsons said. "More and more schools have the facilities like this to prepare their teams better."
Also benefiting from the construction of the facility will be the other varsity sports at WVU and students involved in physical education classes.
"This will free up more time in the Coliseum that can be used for a variety of things, such as for our other athletics teams that would normally conflict for practice time and space," Parsons said. "It also allows us to open up more time for classes within the School of Physical Education, or potentially even hosting more concerts."
One project that is even further into the future is a grand opening event at the new practice facility.
"We are obviously over a year away from anything like that," Parsons said. "Nothing has gone on since the initial groundbreaking in terms of events such as that."
The University held a groundbreaking for the facility Feb. 4.
The facility was originally developed in 2007, but construction was delayed more than three years because of the struggling economy. The building is completely funded by 40 private gifts from donors.
Final construction documents were finished by the project’s architectural firm Ellerbee Becket in October 2008.
The firm has contracted the WVU Coliseum Athletic Academic Performance Center and the Wrestling Pavilion.
The 63,000 square-foot facility will house both the men’s and women’s teams.
It will include two full practice courts, locker rooms, two player’s lounges, a training/treatment area, administrative and coach offices and a Hall of Fame exhibition space.
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