Construction begins on new outdoor campus recreation field

The fields by The Recreation and Wellness Center are undergoing construction to make a new outdoor recreation field. This new field will be one hundred yards in length. Dean of Students David Rachita said the new field is intended to give students opportunities to play different sports such as soccer, sand volleyball and flag football.

“It is going to have a legitimate sand volleyball court,” Rachita said.

The Delta field is also getting some work done.

“The field needs to be maintained,” Rachita said. The construction on the Delta field includes filling in some grass holes.

Students will be using both the delta field and recreation field by the recreation center by participating in club sports, intramurals and other activities.

“We are very excited to be adding in two soccer fields, a sand volleyball court and a barbeque pit for the students to use,” said Mark Denney, vice president of administration and finance.

The volleyball court at the new outdoor recreation field will be made with drainage underneath.

The new field by the recreation center will give the students many opportunities to play intramural sports such as volleyball, soccer and flag football. On the sand volleyball court, there will also be beach -themed workout and yoga classes. Denney talked about the possibly of installing seating in the future.

“Long term we are looking to build small grand stands that will hold 50 people max,” Denney said. “We also plan to build a shade structure to cover the barbeque.”

The total cost of construction for the outdoor recreation field is $1.1 million.

“We are using remaining proceeds from old bonds,” Denney said. “If the bonds are not connected to the recreation center then we are not able to use them.”

The new field by the recreation center will also be used to host events and festivals for the local community.

Rachita is expecting the new recreation field to be very successful and hopes to keep adding upgrades in the years to come.

“The grass will be going in August and from there we just have to wait for it to set in,” Rachita said. “We are excited for the new addition of our rec field and we expect it to be very successful,’’ said Rachita.