Moving Fast
An artist's rendering of the future Campbell Center
The Columbia Spectator reports today that the groundbreaking for the much-needed Campbell Sports Center should happen before the end of this month.
The building should help Columbia athletics move up the ladder in the neverending amenities battle in Ivy sports.
The Chrystie Field House is just not the kind of structure that creates an "wow" reaction from recruits and their families. It is about 60 years old aftr all. Even the original Baker Field was replaced by Wien Stadium before 60 years passed.
Spring Sprouts
The more we hear about spring practice, the more we hear rising sophomore LB Zach Olinger’s name.
He showed a lot of promise last year and he’s definitely looking even better now. But with guys like Alex Gross and Matt Moretto graduating, it’s important not to put too much pressure on this one kid to fill their shoes... and I hope none of the fans does that.
posted by Jake @ 8:42:00 AM
22 comments
22 Comments:
interesting structure, CU badly needs some facility upgrades.
Just curious, what was the seating capacity of the old Baker Field? When you look at that photo of Eisenhower rallying the Columbia faithful in 1952, it looks like there are 30,000 people in the stands (see Jake's blog for 1/21/09).
The listed capacity for the old Baker Field was 37,000. It's important to note that it was never a "permanent" structure and was almost entirely made of wood. How it lasted about 60 seasons without completely collapsing is a mystery. As it was, many sections had to be cordoned off by the last few seasons.
37,000! No wonder the crowd greeting Ike looks so huge. What a great picture! and what school spirit!
Here's a great video of highlights from Yale's spring practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQUaTc6AuU
Hey Jake, hopefully the artist's rendering is a lot like me, " not very photogenic"!!!
Boy that looks ugly!
I'm under the impression that the team heads up to Baker Field to practice and then right back to campus for meals and study, and that they lift weights on campus. What exactly is the new building going to be used for? Are the players going to spend more time uptown than they do now?
The new facility will serve dinner and will have a weight room, I understand.
that structure is horrific looking-looks like a trailer park on stilts. I'm hoping they build something classic, old ivy looking on the outside with state of the art weight room/locker rooms on the inside similar to Harvard's.
Jake,
Spec's sports beat reporter is lamenting the failure of this administration to build some badly needed athletics facilities on hte main campus or at least at Manhattanville. He mistakenly believes that the $50 million price tag for the Campbell Center is university money. My undrstanding is that the university is not funding it; it is being funded with all private donations.
The rendering doesn't do it justice. It will be a spectacular waterside facility with huge WOW elements to it. $50 million still buys a lot of building in this current environment. It should be one of the premier athletic facilities not only in the Ivies, but in the entire Northeast. It will give us a huge recruiting lift. And the one thing that Columbia has done well is put up some excellent physical facilities in recent years.
Thought the location of the CSC was the corner of 218th and Broadway. That's what the University's website on the project says (see below). Can anyone verify that it's a waterfront location?
Had heard dining facilities would be included but they are not listed with the building's features below. The rendering is dreadful; I'm worried if that's the best rendering the architects can offer. Hope it will look a lot better than that.
DESIGN FEATURES & SUSTAINABLE ELEMENTS:
Strength and conditioning space
Offices for varsity sports and football
An auditorium
A hospitality suite
Student-athlete spaces
State-of-the-art facilities
The University's goal is to build the Campbell Sports Center at a minimum of LEED Silver.
LOCATION: intersection of Broadway and 218th Street
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 48,000 gross square foot
Huh? (for Anonymous, #11). The building is hideous -- sort of a romanticized Lower East Side tenement, with neither the Ivy League dignity Columbia badly needs to be associated with its football program(see the new projects at Penn and Harvard)nor a good fit with the Inwood neighborhood. I remember that when the architect first briefed the concept to an alumni group, he said something about first drawing a sketch on a napkin..a fittingly humble birth for such an ugly design.
Far from a "spectacular waterfront facility," the Campbell Center promises to be the latest aesthetically subpar physical structure that he University has erected in recent years (The Northwest Corner cheese grater is an embarrassment, no better how much Bollinger and his entourage insist otherwise). A huge Wow is indeed appropriate, but mostly in dismay at the extent to which Columbia still cant seem to get it right.
Lower east side tenement? When I watch the external virtual tour of the building at the following link and see the long covered ramp or stairway approaches, I am inclined to think the architect was inspired at least as much by the 210th Street and 125th Street elevated subway stations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q869WnnnvAs
I'm amazed Bill Campbell signed off on this building. Those approach ramps are dreadful. What could be less inviting?
By the way, I don't think the $50 million in commitments is for this building alone; I believe that's the total for the athletics dept capital campaign which includes other improvements.
More images of Harvard's lockerrooms
http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/2010-11/photos/0005/index
Or why not reawaken the Knickerbocker spirit of the area by trying a modern update inspired by the long gone Dyckman mansion (tragically replaced almost sixty years ago by the Chrystie Field House).
http://myinwood.net/columbia-in-inwood/
The first picture (of the older of the two current boathouses) interprets it well.
Instead we get a new subway station. Sad.
Yes, a building that respected the neighborhood's history and architecture would be a huge improvement. Why not do something that references the boathouse and has a more collegiate feel? And what are those big tile-like things on the exterior walls of the CSC? They remind me of Carman's cinder-blocks.
If the Dyckman mansion was at Baker Field until 1950 per the Columbia in Inwood website, how was it used by Columbia? I never knew it was there so late.
That begs the question of what happens to Chrystie Fieldhouse. I assume it is in for a renovation. How will it be used going forward?
Speaking of Carman, Columbia should spend money to re-face that building with a facade that is more contextual with the rest of the campus. If it attempted to match John Jay in terms of its mix of stone and brick, it would create a great set of symmetrical flanking wings on either side of Butler Library
We needed a variance because we are using waterfront space. The $50 million is for the building. the entire athletics campaign is for $100,000,000, and is going extremely well. Bill Campbell would never put his name on a subpar structure. I really think that this is going to be a spectacular facility, and that the renderings do not do it justice. As faras the comment on the new science building, the NYTimes architectural review was spectacular.
I agree with anon regarding Carman, I think making it look more like the other central campus dorms would be a massive improvement for the look and feel of the campus.
Agree about Carman. If the dorm was set back behind other structures, it wouldn't matter so much. But it is right smack on the main campus and the primary view when you stand on the steps of Low. Refacing is done all the time (not without cost of course) but it would be worth every penny. Some buildings done in the 50's have grown on me over time, but this one still looks like an eyesore after all these years. I think the already handsome campus would be instantly improved tenfold.
Anonymous at 6:30 am says we needed a variance because we are using waterfront space. What does the variance have to do with the preceding discussion of the appearance of the building?
The corner of 218th and Broadway is not "waterfront space." If the CSC is going to be built at 218th and Broadway I would not call it waterfront space. The view out the south and east sides will be of an elevated subway! Would love to hear it is going to be on the water.
I can't believe the building in the video is a $50 million building. It's described as a 48,000 square foot building. That would be $1,041 per square foot in construction costs. Even if you are including furnishings that is wildly expensive.
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