Photos by Evan Brengel (From left to right) Kirk Narburg, partner at King & King Architechts; President Halstead; Jeff Van Denburgh, SUNY Construction Fund program manager; and Curtis Moody, president and CEO of Moody/Nolan Inc. spoke at the Feb. 28 announcement of the architechtural firm and completion date for the Special Events and Recreation Center. Shown (below) is one possibility for the design and layout of SERC.

Architect, timeline is set for new rec center
By Evan N. Brengel
Copy Editor

In a press conference on Wednesday, Feb. 28, President John Halstead announced that the designated architect for the new Special Events and Recreation Center will be King & King Architects.  The anticipated completion date for the project is 2010 to 2011.

“During my first year as your president here at SUNY Brockport, I identified the Special Events Recreation Center as our number one capital priority,” Halstead told the numerous media outlets and staff members present. “That’s been a consistent message and it will continue to be that message.”

This project, which will take approximately four years to construct, is one of the largest construction projects Brockport has seen in years. Its features include a four-lane indoor track, a fitness center and weight rooms, locker rooms and showers, vending and ticket areas, large spaces that can be used for either academics or athletics, and an indoor arena with a seating capacity of 8,000. Halstead was proud to announce that “this will be the largest indoor arena between Rochester and Buffalo.”

In total, the facility will encompass about 8,000 square feet, and would be built in the area where lot V currently is.

Halstead was “very proud to announce King & King Architechts, LLP of Manlius” as the primary architect on the project. “King & King is an Upstate New York firm with a 138-year history and a national reputation for creative and quality designs in education, health care, laboratories and businesses,” Halstead said.

“Over the course of the next few months, we’re going to be working very closely with the Steering committee to develop design options and then ultimately forming an option that we’re going to move ahead with for this very exciting project,” said Kirk W. Narbugh, a partner with King & King Architects. “One can expect the extraordinary on this project.”

The project, which currently is $5 million short of its $44 million cost, is seeking to solicit the last bit of funds from various sources — possibly even students. The majority of the funds were granted from the SUNY Construction fund, a branch of the state university that doles out money to various schools for large scale projects.

“In 2006, $15 million was appropriated within the SUNY Capital Budget for the Center, with an additional $24 million requested by SUNY and included in Governor Spitzer’s 2007-08 Executive Budget. The College is in the process of acquiring the remaining $5 million,” explained a press release from Marketing Communications official Nicholas Mascari.

By Evan Brengel, COPY Editor One proposed design (above) for the recreation center will cover what is now lot V. The project is estimated to cost $44 million and is expected to be completed between 2010 and 2011

Curtis Moody, president and CEO of Moody/Nolan Inc., an architect company that specializes in sports facilities was more than enthused to show his support for this project. “There are many buildings that make up a campus,” Moody said. “There are only a few that really become the heart of the campus. This is one of those projects.”

Other than the anticipated year of completion, no dates have been set in stone regarding the future of this project. Officials estimate the design phase to take about a year to compete and approve, and after that the time span is left open for construction until the end date. This is one of three major construction projects currently underway on campus, the other two being the new townhomes and the renovation of Harrison dining hall.