Franklin Field to see more light

There has been a serious power struggle at the east end of campus. But the Athletic Department has plans to cure its electrical problem, at least at Franklin Field, by the end of the week. Some elaborate wiring by outside electricians will ensure full nighttime lighting of Franklin Field by Saturday, according to Athletic Facilities Associate Director Larry Lauchle. Other athletic facilities improvements -- to Hutchinson Gym, Weightman Hall and the Palestra -- are also on the way, although no date has been set. Up to this point, because of insufficient electricity, only the south-side lights of Franklin Field have been lit at night. Athletes training in the evening have been working out in dim, shadowy light for months. To accommodate for the electricity shortage, lights in other buildings have been shut off when both sets of lights have been needed in the field. If both the south and north sets are turned on in Franklin, the Palestra cannot be lit and the basketball team cannot practice, Lauchle said. The electrical shortage posed no problem for football practice last semester because there was no team in the Palestra competing for kilowatts. But soon both the basketball team and the lacrosse team will be practicing simultaneously. The athletic department currently draws electricity from an electrical substation in the basement of College Hall. The long-term solution to the shortage is to build a substation in Weightman Hall. Bids for such a substation have already gone out. When the substation is built, "we should have enough electricity to do anything we'd like to do in the next 50 years," Lauchle said. The next few years promise repairs to more than just Franklin Field. Several other athletic buildings are on the docket -- but only as money becomes available. The University plans to spend $1 million to renovate Weightman Hall's exterior and repaint and seal cracks in the building. Physical Plant will replace the exterior doors of the Palestra when it can free up $400,000. Lauchle says he would like to see greater improvements at the Palestra, including modernized bathrooms and oak ticket booths. But he cautions against taking Palestra renovation too far. "You don't want to make [the Palestra] a 'modern modern' building. You have that 'feel' of the Palestra and you don't really want to lose that." These repairs depend on the athletic department's "deferred maintenance five-year plan," which accumulates capital from annual budgets. When enough money is saved, the project is carried out, Contract Maintenance Project Manager Bill Wilkinson said. Physical Plant has already earmarked $800,000 to repair the Hutch pool this summer.