Looking Ahead | Hazy Phase II may include new track and swim facilities

By 2010, a new fitness center, three full-length fields, Palestra Green, 12 additional tennis courts and a new softball stadium will invigorate the eastern edge of Penn's campus.

That's only the beginning of Penn's three-phase facilities campaign, though.

The second step centers on maximizing usage of the Palestra and neighboring Hutchinson Gymnasium.

"They're historic facilities, yet we have a lot of programming needs," Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said, citing varsity fencing and gymnastics and intramural basketball. "There's a lot of space there."

Bilsky said that he did not know how exactly that space would be used, a fact that did not concern him since the targeted completion date is not until around 2012. At some point down the line, he said, coaches and other program and Athletic Department personnel will discuss their various requirements and draw up a solution.

The details are even more uncertain for phase three, whose targeted time frame is "2012+," according to sketches provided to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The Athletic Department hopes to build an indoor track facility because, Bilsky said, despite all the renovations, "we really haven't addressed where the track guys work out all year round."

Proposals are still being studied, but the current idea is to build it between the Hollenback Center and Rhodes Field, where the "ugly annex" currently sits, Bilsky said.

Bilsky would like the track center to be designed not only for training and practice but also for spectators. This is still a possibility, but he seemed resigned to the fact that he may have to settle for a less ambitious project that would only be used for workouts.

"Maybe that's a little less than ideal," he said, "but it's still a lot better than what we have now."

A natatorium - "something that somewhere down the line the university desperately needs" - will be the final major facility built under this campaign, although its location is still to be determined. Currently, there is only one pool one campus.

Bilsky suggested that the new structure could also benefit the city and the community because of a lack of swimming facilities in the area.

Renderings also reveal several elements of the project which Bilsky did not discuss. At some point during phase three, the Ringe Squash Courts will be knocked down for more green space. The Levy Tennis Pavilion would either be expanded into, or replaced by, a new "Racquet Center," according to the diagrams.

Students would also be able to cross the Schuylkill River on a new pedestrian bridge that would run north of and parallel to the South Street Bridge, arriving on the eastern bank at Pine Street.

Two promenades - one from the rebuilt South Street Bridge and one from near Palestra Green - will link Penn Park with the rest of the University. Unfortunately, the new green and athletic areas will still be situated amidst three railroad lines, since it would take billions of dollars to move them underground.

"The real key is to figure out a way to utilize all of this and not make [the tracks] stand out," Bilsky said.

The plan, Bilsky hopes, will make this eastern end "an integral part of campus," which in turn would hopefully boost attendance at the varsity stadiums located there.

By the time the entire project is complete, Bilsky will have received all the upgrades he desired.

"The culmination of the last ten years, I think we'll have addressed all of our major needs," he said. "I do think that our facilities will be as good as anybody's."

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