Valpo Begins Construction on New Track and Field Facility

[VULB#62]

Hey, are there any photo sites out there with progressive shots of the new track construction?  I've seen like 3 shots on Facebook (nothing on Flickr), but none from the press box to give you an overall impression of progress.  Pal, could you get up high and get some of those on a regular basis and post them to your photo site?

[covufan]

Let me get this straight. We live in the shabbiest house in the neighborhood that everyone in town laughs at, and we have family members discussing whether we should plant the flowers we just bought for the backyard around the plastic birdbath or put them in a area by themselves. So wrong on so many levels.

Plant them by the pink flamingos!

[historyman]

From what I could see from the parking lot between the ARC and Brown Field there has been a ring dug around Brown Field about 3 feet deep (just a guess, it could be deeper) that is about as wide as the 8 lane track will be. The ring extends out into what was formerly the tennis courts and then a parking lot west of the goalpost. There is some kind of structure being built to the left of the scoreboard. It's obvious that the placement of the scoreboard was perfect for where the track will sit. There are mounds of dirt in places. That I'm afraid was as of last Thursday, 6 days ago, so I'm sure there has been some progress since I last saw it. To me it's no more or less than expected. I am curious about what the structure to the left of the scoreboard might turn out to be.

[VULB#62]

From what I could see from the parking lot between the ARC and Brown Field there has been a ring dug around Brown Field about 3 feet deep (just a guess, it could be deeper) that is about as wide as the 8 lane track will be.

With  all that dirt being removed (and probably replaced with different fill for the track's foundation) I hope they use the removed soil to construct a 4'-6' high earth berm surrounding the track that would make the enclosed area look more like a stadium. It would be a nice touch to put a steel fence with brick pillar posts on top.

I am curious about what the structure to the left of the scoreboard might turn out to be.

Probably for track, soccer and football equipment storage don't you think?  Maybe a small spot in the building for visitor side concessions too?

[historyman]

Probably for track, soccer and football equipment storage don't you think?  Maybe a small spot in the building for visitor side concessions too?

That would make perfect sense. Your guess could be very accurate.

[ml2]

VULB#62 - I hope this is more what you were looking for.

[tweet]476035716934164484[/tweet]

[VULB#62]

Good shot Matt. Were we right in assuming the structure between the scoreboard and the visitor stands is for equipment storage?

[ml2]

I believe that is correct. The building should be storage for equipment, ie hurdles.

[valpotx]

Looks really good, and anyone who is thinking that a track around our football field is 'small college,' needs to remember that we are Valpo, not UT

[vufan75]

Photo that is on Facebook showing week 5 progress on new track. Things seem to be moving alone nicely on the track project.

[vufan75]

VU Athletics photo of new track construction week 6.

[tweet]479010826725367808[/tweet]

[VULB#62]

You can begin to visualize what it will look like when complete.  It's gonna be a vast improvement visually for games played on the turf not to mention what it gives the T&F program in terms of practices and meets.  Not talked about too much is the non-event usage by casual joggers from the community and the college.  A couple of new tracks went in at a couple of colleges (Bridgewater State and Stonehill College) where I formerly lived  in Massachusetts, and every time you drove by, whether it was early morning or at night there always were people jogging.  This is well worth the investment.

[valpotx]

I wouldn't think that VU would allow casual joggers from the community to use the track, would they?  Since it is being paid for by the school, you would think that only VU students/personnel would be allowed the use.

[wh]

I doubt there will be much community interest. There are outdoor walking facilities all over town, plus health clubs and an indoor track at the Y. You may see a handful of seniors in the morning and that will probably be about it.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

You may see a handful of seniors in the morning and that will probably be about it.

Seniors in the Naples sense, not that VU sense

[VULB#62]

I doubt there will be much community interest. There are outdoor walking facilities all over town, plus health clubs and an indoor track at the Y. You may see a handful of seniors in the morning and that will probably be about it.

You guys know more about the local community, but I would think the university community will use it. 

I wouldn't think that VU would allow casual joggers from the community to use the track, would they?  Since it is being paid for by the school, you would think that only VU students/personnel would be allowed the use.

To do that they would have to lock the gates, I would think.  Or they might just post a sign saying it's restricted to VU folks, but unless you carry a VU security badge in your shorts who's to know? If I lived close-by, I'd think about sneaking in to jog on a cushioned track   

[valpotx]

I have to think that they would lock the gates.  Even my HS doesn't allow community members on it, and we pay for it lol.

[valpo04]

I have to think that they would lock the gates.  Even my HS doesn't allow community members on it, and we pay for it lol.

I work on the Johns Hopkins campus next to Homewood Field and their track is open to the community. I see all kind of folks using it daily.

Homewood Track

Located around Homewood Field.
A single lane rubber padded walking/jogging track.
The facility offers JHU faculty and staff, as well as surrounding community members, a track for early walks or laps at lunch.
Please note that the track is closed during all Varsity Competitions.

What's funny is that people are so used to using it and feeling like they are entitled to it that when they installed the original Field Turf back in 2005, the AD actually received angry calls because they had to close the track and actually spent additional money to re-create it for them: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2005-06-10/news/0506100221_1_track-hopkins-homewood-field

Runners lament loss of neighborly track at Homewood Field
Smaller oval will replace it as Hopkins resurfaces its lacrosse field this summer

For the past seven years - whether it was blisteringly hot, freezing cold, raining or snowing - Rudiger Ruckmann left his Northwood home every Wednesday at the crack of dawn, carrying his water bottle and beat-up Adidas shoes, to run on the Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field track.

"We would meet there in any kind of conditions - 20 degrees below zero, three feet of snow," the 41-year-old Ruckmann said. "It would be driving rain, 90 degrees, but we're troopers, and that was always a great meeting place for us and other crazy runners and walkers in Baltimore."

Yesterday, the track was closed as workers prepared to renovate Homewood Field's surface --- a process that will upgrade the turf but eliminate the cozy, quarter-mile oval that wraps Hopkins' storied lacrosse field.

Beginning today, workers will begin to replace the hard, forest-green Astroturf with a state-of-the-art synthetic surface, and the field dimensions will be widened to comply with NCAA soccer regulations so that soccer teams can participate in postseason play.

Jerry Schnydman, executive assistant to the Hopkins president, said it was impossible to gauge how many people use the track on a daily basis. But from the number of phone calls he and others received from people expressing concern over the loss of the track, he said, "It was a lot of people."

In response to the protests, Hopkins officials set aside $43,000 to build a new, 6-foot-wide rubberized track between the field and the concourse. It will be completed along with the field by late next month or August.

But university officials acknowledge that the new rubber track will be narrower and will have a less-forgiving surface, which might not satisfy the runners.

"I think we heard from both our university community and the neighborhood that this was a resource that would be missed, and we can't replace it in the current location with exactly the same kind. But we can do this," said Hopkins spokesman Dennis O'Shea.

In some respects, he said, the new track will be an improvement, in that runners will be able to exercise while teams are practicing, and new safety nets will prevent errant shots on the goal from hitting runners.

But that doesn't matter to runner Bob Hilson. "Six feet does nothing for us," he said.

Hilson recalls seeing "everything you could imagine" on the track - different running styles, including people who preferred to run backward, and elderly women strolling.

On Sunday evening, a dozen die-hards - including 1977 Hopkins track captain Craig Snyder - gathered at the track for a ceremonial "last mile," organized by Falls Road Running owner Jim Adams, who has traveled from Towson to run the track since 1995.

"When you have a track - it doesn't matter if it's a university or high school - if it's convenient and the public goes there to exercise and get in shape, it becomes a part of your regimen," Adams said. "To lose that facility, it's just a major disappointment."


The mornings and evenings, Adams said, typically attracted a professional crowd. The middle of the day was favored by Hopkins students and athletes.

For Hopkins athletes, however, the field was becoming a nuisance. O'Shea said that in addition to the "rock-hard" surface's causing shin splints, stress fractures and other injuries, the men's and women's soccer teams could not host post-season games because the field was not wide enough.

The track team will be displaced for a season, according to Bill Harrington, a senior associate athletic director at Hopkins, as the location and cost of building a new facility are examined. He said that alumni of the lacrosse team have requested pieces of the turf, put down eight years ago.

Meanwhile, Ruckmann's running group, the Baltimore Pacemakers, has found a new track to run on at Gilman School. But Ruckmann said it will be hard to re-create the nostalgia of the Homewood track.

[VULB#62]

That's my experience too.  Haven't ever seen small colleges locking down a facility like this except for when athletic events are taking place.  They sometimes post rules at the gates (like no cleats on the running surface and stuff like that) but basically they are open to the general public.   You can't lock out just the community.  If the gates are locked, VU students, staff and families are locked out too.

[valpotx]

TCU has attendants at every type of athletic facility on campus, and requires student ID to use (outside of game days for fans)

[bbtds]

TCU has attendants at every type of athletic facility on campus, and requires student ID to use (outside of game days for fans)

This is kind of funny. I was in Fort Worth one day in 2010 and was driving around looking around the athletic facilities at TCU. I got out and was walking around looking at the track when an attendant came up and asked me to leave. At the time I just thought well, they got to make sure nobody messes with the facilities. But it doesn't make a good impression.

[VULB#62]

Caveat  Please use the following filter: < one really large martini > while reading this post.

I hear what you're saying Tex and it remains to be determined by the athletic administration whether or not to open it to the general public.  But  TCU is big time, big money. We can't afford to hire "watch persons"  (PC police are everywhere)  and we certainly can't afford to alienate good towns people whose only motivation is to get a little exercise.  Speaking as a septuagenarian (recently had my card punched), I will seek out cushioned walking/jogging/crawling surfaces wherever they are (especially if they are smooth enough not to make my walker bounce)  -- BTW, I've noticed that they are really hard to come by. 

Valpo HS has an all-weather track.  Is it open to the public (yeah, I know, the public here is defined as taxpayers and they own it, but.....)? That's great for the north side of town.  How about the south side where the "university-that-is-named-after-the-town-but-the town-doesn't- support-it" exists?

What's the risk?  Graffiti? Kids on BMX bikes?  Roller Blades?  Just set and post some rules.

Anything VU can do to welcome the community into its midst, in my book, is well worth it. 

This is a stretch, so bear with me:  Maybe someone who never went to a MBB game at the ARC hears that there is this great track over at "that university."  He becomes a regular jogger/speed reps guy on our spanking new  track.   The fact that he gets on our campus a few days a week piques his interest in "that university."  He tells his friends that VU is a pretty user-friendly place.  Maybe we should take in a BB game.  He watches the Crusader clobber St. Louis University and he's hooked, and so are his buddies.   Think positive now: we just sold 3 (count 'em 3) MBB season tix!!!!!!!!  Fist bumps all around !

Sorry, I let my imagination run away with me.

But the idea, I think, is valid.  Bottom line IMO: Suck the Valpo community into our world however we can.  I'm reminded of an old axiom:  "Grab them by the balls and their hearts and minds will follow."

[valpotx]

I can definitely understand your view, don't get me wrong.  I think my view stems from incidents while I was in school, where some bad community members caused issues on campus, when it wasn't related to athletic events.  This includes when there were several individuals who would camp out in their cars on the street outside of Scheele, staring into the building with binoculars, hoping to catch a glimpse.  Obviously, the vast majority of the community are good people, but the bad always ruin it for the good.

[valporun]

I could see the new track being open during non-game day hours with a student-worker/intramurals staff attendant during the day, then the facility is closed from say 3PM to 6 or 7PM for VU athletics use. Not sure how many general public runners or walkers would use this track with all the other walking/running paths in the Valpo area, but I could see a lot of Crusader Club members from the Valpo area coming to use it. Of course, I've been preaching that the university could open it to local high schools and AAU clubs for big invitationals or high school state qualifying meets, and make some money from it, that could be used for future upkeep of jump mats for the high jump and pole vault, or for track and cross country team use. They could even host some general public open track meets in the summer. Talk about a major moneymaker for the university from March to September/October.

[talksalot]

There is a track at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Valpo... used for their school events and the annual Greater Valparaiso American Cancer Society Relay for Life.  This track has no fence...it's old... but more people walk around the Fairgrounds park 3/4-mile loop.  and during softball season, it has a concession stand!   I can see this being used by some local schools for their meets, but not the general public as a "place to go for a walk"... campus is too beautiful to just loop around the track!