Students 'got game,' but Penn lacks courts

It's the kind of night that makes College freshman Steven Glazer want to play ball -- when the breeze is just cool enough to keep him from sweating but not so strong as to affect his jumpshot. If he were at home in Brookline, Mass., he would already be on his way down to the local outdoor courts where the games would continue until the lights shut off at midnight. But at the University, the options are more limited -- students wanting to shoot hoops outdoors must trek to Drexel University's courts at 33rd and Arch streets. So why doesn't Penn -- which spent a liberal $2.9 million dollars in 1968 to build Gimbel Gymnasium -- have any outdoor courts in 1997? After all, one court without lights would only cost about $35,000, according to Recreation Director Mike Diorka. "It's all about space," Diorka said. "Having a place to put the courts is the problem." Four years ago, the University's only outdoor basketball courts were sacrificed for the parking lot which now stands at 38th and Walnut streets. Diorka, who was still working for Tulane University at the time, said he finds it unusual that the courts were never relocated. "There is a policy in this business that whatever you take away, you bring back in another place," he said. "I wasn't here to fight for them when they were taken away." Diorka can't explain why the University didn't build new courts, but he does realize student interest is strong. A recreational study conducted last year identified outdoor recreation as a problem that needs to be addressed. Although the University has not yet decided how to react to the study, the recreation department has begun to explore ways to improve current facilities. "We've thrown around ideas about outdoor climbing walls, in-line skating areas, barbeque pits, picnic areas and volleyball courts," Diorka said. "We're trying to see what goes here and what goes there." Diorka and Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta identified some possible sites for future outdoor basketball courts --including the top of the parking garage next to the 1920 Commons dining facility and, ironically, the top of the parking garage at 38th and Walnut streets. "We could have courts built up there and completed by the end of winter or the beginning of spring," Diorka said, adding, however, that he is hesitant to begin any construction separately from the eventual recreational overall effort. "I don't want to do anything hastily," he said. "It would be very impractical to build courts in one place and then have to tear them down and build them again somewhere else." Diorka could not estimate when such an effort would begin, but he said it has taken up to six years at other universities. Assistant Vice President of Community and City Relations Glenn Bryan hopes outdoor basketball courts will return to campus sooner. The courts at 38th and Walnut streets were beneficial to the University's relations with the community, Bryan recalled. He grew up near campus before going to school here, as well. "There were always people from the community playing there with Penn students," he said. "It was definitely a positive." Engineering senior Kris Furlonge also remembered how University students found a common ground with community members through their shared use of the courts. "There were never any problems between students and them," he said. "It's the great equalizer, athletics," Diorka added. "And it doesn't matter what color somebody is or what school he's from when you're choosing up teams."