I had the pleasure of taking a guided tour of the renovations at John F. Savage Hall and Nichols Arena today, and I’d like to thank Chris Barnhardt for his time and narrative as we went.
After donning hard hats, we set off, first to peek inside the arena, then back out and past the old ticket windows to where the racquetball courts used to be. There is so much going on in that building, even at 3:30pm, that it’s hard to keep it all straight. Suffice it to say, at least initially, that one barely recognizes the place.
We went past the new steam plant in the lowest level and poked our heads in. It may not generate all the heat for the campus initially, but that’s the plan eventually. There must be a dozen monstrous boilers in that huge room.
We walked past a wall on our right and then through a doorway when Chris told me we standing where the old student seating used to be. The wall had been moved way back, and all that space was now going to be storage. As we circled the building, we came to the men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms, each looking identical with a lounge/media room, followed by the locker and shower rooms. Great looking spaces, even with so much work to be done.
The women’s volleyball locker room is spacious as well, a darn sight bigger and better than the closet into which they used to be tucked. Every sport using that building is going to be getting first class space, and a lot more of it.
I was surprised to see that the floor wasn’t finished yet, knowing they had started it a couple of weeks ago. What I didn’t realize was that the entire arena is being covered in wood. The playing floor is set apart visually by the slightly lighter color of wood. I stood and watched the workers installing the 2 foot wood sections; they’re like machines, placing and nailing each one in place. This crew is from Indiana, and they work 4 days a week, working 12 hours, then 8, then 12, then 8. Chris told me that the floor should be done tomorrow, if they don’t finish it today.
It is absolutely beautiful. Superlatives for this project are going to become harder and harder to find, as it appears everything has been done “just so”.
Among the many things that impressed me were the training rooms. There are several, and the medical staff will even have 2 x-ray rooms to work with. In addition, there is a room with a very large jaccuzzi, next to which is an underwater treadmill. I couldn’t believe that one and had to take a few pictures. From there, another major attraction: a HUGE weight training facility, which will have a glass wall facing the main entryway.
People coming in will have a great view of that part of the facility. Then it was into the new entryway itself. Very high vaulted ceiling, lots of glass and a very airy feeling greet visitors. Looking up, I noticed that the entryway goes up 3 floors, and there’s a very wide staircase (and an elevator) to get fans up to the concourse level.
We went up the stairs and began to follow it around the arena. I had to stop to take some entry level shots of the Bob Nichols Arena, its seating, loges and suites. Only the seats with the Rocket logo are installed right now, but the risers are all in place and it’s easy to visualize the rest of the seats.
We walked through the gutted Joe Grogan Room and looked out at the arena below. The JGR isn’t being expanded, but it is being totally overhauled. Student seating will begin just under the JGR on about a dozen or so rows of permanent seats. The remainder will be fold-away bleachers, still getting the students close to the action. This level also contains the loges and club seating.
Walking another flight of stairs, we came to the suite level. Very little inside suites to see, except a lot of dirty work going on. They all had plastic up and black goo sprayed everywhere (a fire retardant). Across the hall from the suites are offices (Savage Hall is going to have A LOT of offices on almost every level). The view from those offices is wonderful; the athletic department folks will actually have WINDOWS! And if you want a real view, go all the way to the end of the hallway to the upper level of the entryway. I had to take a shot of the Glass Bowl from up here. The entire façade of this entryway is going to be covered in glass, and it appeared that a few panes had already been installed on the east side.
We went back downstairs to the east concourse. At first glance, it doesn’t look a lot different. Then you notice that there are five concession windows in the south end of the east side, facing into the middle, where there used to be one. And then you notice that all the restrooms have been bumped out 10 to 12 feet. You would think taking up all that concourse space would make it feel cramped, but it doesn’t. Still feels very open.
Of course, I had to ask about the new indoor practice facility that was just ok’d by the Board of Trustees. My understanding was that it was supposed to go toward the Ottawa River, but it was obvious there wasn’t enough room in that direction, even angled somewhat. As Chris understands it right now, a “tunnel” will exit Savage Hall just to the west of the Joe Grogan Room entrance, where it will join up to the new practice facility to the south. Construction there will cause the loss of a few trees, require leveling some land, and losing about 30 parking spaces.
After spending about an hour and a half in this dusty, cluttered, busy worksite, and seeing what has been done so far, it is easy to see that this is going to be a real showcase for Rocket sports. The athletic department did this the right way, in my opinion. It appears that no corners were cut, and only the best would be good enough. We’re going to be very proud of this facility for a very long time.
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