Plugging away
The slew of local media crowding around the vast, empty construction site adjacent to Manley Field House thought it was standing on a big pile of dirt. To Jeremy Thurston, that meaningless patch of land is worth a whole lot more.
‘We’re standing about where the reception desk is going to be for the facility,’ said Thurston, vice president of the Hayner Hoyt Corporation, the coordinating construction company for the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center.
At least, where the reception desk will be a year from now.
Thurston confirmed Wednesday that construction of the two-story, 53,100-foot basketball practice facility, already colloquially known as the ‘Melo Center, is on schedule for its completion in September 2009. Placement of the steel for the foundation will begin in November after a mass excavation to make room for the retaining walls.
The update comes about one year after Syracuse University held a ground breaking ceremony signifying the beginning of construction. Anthony, who starred on Syracuse’s 2003 national title team, pledged $3 million toward the building for the naming rights.
‘That thing is going to be finished on time,’ SU Director of Athletics Daryl Gross told The Daily Orange in August. ‘I’ve been assured of that over and over. Because every time I go out there and don’t see a tractor, I go around screaming at everyone.
‘But we’re proud of that. It’s going to help recruiting.’
Work crews continue to clear out mounds of soil from a large hill on the northeast side of Manley Field House that will be replaced by a retaining wall and part of the building. Thurston said that process is ahead of schedule because of the nice weather in the Syracuse area this month and better than expected soil conditions.
Thurston also confirmed the general layout of the facility: two practice courts, a weight room and locker rooms on the bottom floor, coaches’ offices on the top floor. Part of Manley Field House will be knocked down to connect to the ‘Melo Center through a Syracuse basketball Hall of Fame.
The current basketball arena in Manley Field House will likely be used for track and field and multi-purpose training.
The university’s goal is for the building to be LEED-certified, meaning it meets the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building System – a sustainable and environmentally-friendly construction initiative through the U.S. Green Building Council.
Thurston said that by recycling the construction waste locally and using products almost exclusively from local companies, the facility is already on pace to be certified, and now he hopes the building earns ‘silver’ certification – an even ‘greener’ designation.
‘We’re excited,’ Thurston said. ‘This is really a great project, and we’re excited to be a part of it.’
Cleveland Hughes, the president of CHC Construction Group, one of the groups facilitating the project, said the ‘Melo Center will be the first two-court collegiate practice facility in the country. It also will be used by both the men’s and women’s teams – a rarity in college basketball.
‘It does put the SU facility miles ahead of other collegiate facilities in the country, and that could become a very important recruiting tool,’ Hughes said.
Besides giving the two basketball teams a new practice center, the ‘Melo Center should reduce congestion in the Carrier Dome in the spring, when winter and spring sports need to share one space.
Pete Sala, the associate athletics director for facility operation, said making practice schedules will be much easier now, because the basketball teams will only practice in the Dome the day before or the day after games. In recent years, the Dome has been booked virtually all day, with some teams having to start practice as early as 7 a.m.
Syracuse is not alone in trying to improve its basketball facilities. Hughes said other Big East schools like Louisville are embarking on similar construction projects, but those are all one-court facilities.
Said Hughes: ‘Everybody realizes that coming out of high school now, the athletes want something to more or less prepare them for the next level.’
Published on September 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm
