Payne Whitney Gym to finally get in shape

Although the Payne Whitney Gymnasium (PWG) might not please everyone's aesthetic sensibilities, it has been a Yale landmark since 1932, even winning an architecture award during the 1936 Olympics. But the University's policy of "deferred maintenance" has endangered PWG's architectural eminence, and the gym has long needed several additions, repairs, and improvements. Yale's recent financial healing, coupled with donations targeted for PWG improvements, have sparked the University to embark on a mammoth, $100 million, long-term renovation project.

Renovations on such a grand scale are fitting for the 600,000 square-foot behemoth, and the common Yalie claim that PWG is the largest in the world will be indisputable when the project is finished. Architectural firms LRB Beckett and Cesar Pelli developed the plans, and the construction firm of Bechtel/Fusco will carry them to completion.

Courtesy Barbara Chesler Architect's model of the $38 million Colonel Lanman Center which will house an indoor track and four large multi-use courts with 20 basketball hoops and volleyball facilities

Much of PWG's former glory will be restored by the end of Phase I. Six squash courts were completed last semester, and new varsity locker rooms, planned to be built underneath the steps of the amphitheater, are scheduled to be completed by mid-February. In July 1997, Yale broke ground behind the amphitheater wing of the gym for the Colonel Lanman Center. This 30,000-square-foot addition will contain a sixth of a mile track and four basketball courts. The courts will be versatile--side hoops will make 20 simultaneous mini- and half-court games possible; the courts will also be convertible for sports such as volleyball and badminton. This summer, the sports medicine office will be shifted and reorganized to make room for a connecting hallway between PWG's main entrance and the Lanman Center.

The centerpiece of PWG renovations, the Lanman Center was funded entrely by a donation from "an almost anonymous donor," according to Associate Athletic Director Barbara Chesler, who is directing the project. Alumni contributed $38 million to the project in all. Chesler described the initial phase as "a tremendous amount of work," adding, "We've been in the planning stages for almost five years."

Despite such ambitious plans, some varsity athletes had not heard much about the renovations. The varsity women's crew team will be getting a new locker room, but captain Jenny Brevorka, CC '98, said, "I hadn't even heard that it was supposed to be `the crew locker room.'" Coxswain Jayme Yen, DC '99, also expressed surprise. "I assume we won't get [the new locker room] until next semester," she said. Rookie coach Will Porter said, "I don't think [the team] truly realizes what a great facility this is going to be." But he added that the team only uses the PWG locker room until spring break; they use their boathouse in Derby afterwards.

Though some were uninformed, most varsity athletes were excited about the project. Men's basketball captain Emerson Whitley, SY '98, looks forward to the team's having its own locker room. "Right now we have our temporary locker room, and the visiting team has their temporary locker room," he said. "We use a little room in the crew tanks for our team room." The women's basketball team currently faces the same locker room problems. Center Katy Grubbs, SM '99, said, "It would be nice to have our own space." Women's volleyball middle blocker Rosie Wustrack, BR '99, remarked, "I think it'll be great. It will be a much larger room, and there will be an area to put a couch.... It will be good to have a nice visiting team locker room." Chesler agreed that, "It's an embarrassment to put visiting teams in our [current] rooms."

Non-varsity athletes will also reap benefits from the renovations--PWG's dispersed fitness facilities will be replaced with a new fourth floor fitness center. Featuring cardiovascular equipment, free weights, and cable TV, the center will be divided into three 7,000 square foot sections, with one reserved for varsity athletes.

The gym's dark lobby will also get a face-lift, to be completed in late August and early fall. Chesler said the new lobby will feature new lighting, glass doors for natural light, a new control desk, and card accessiblity. Several other changes, like corridor renovations or construction of locker rooms for special-needs athletes, will also increase gym accessibility.

To students unaware of the project's details, the renovations came as a rude surprise. Ceilings had been gutted and temporary lighting made the previously dim corridors even darker. A recent exploration of the entire gym also revealed closed stairwells, construction equipment in the hallways, and signs on walls that read "chop thru to stairwell." Steam and sauna rooms, as well as racquetball courts, are currently unavailable. Temporary steam and sauna rooms should be in place by the spring, but there will be no racquetball courts for several years. In fact, Chesler is unsure when new racquetball courts will be completed. She claims that since squash is currently "the hot game,"construction of new fourth-floor squash courts is of a higher priority than new facilities for racquetball.

Chesler pointed out that a project of this ambition and scale is "too massive to be done over the summer. Our goal is to keep all our services running as best we can." However, as recent water shutdowns show, this is not an easy task. In order to disseminate information about the renovations, she has published the first issue of Payne Whitney Gym News, which provides updated information on the renovations and is available in the gym lobby. Chesler said that a model of the new gym and center was displayed in PWG's lobby last semester, but "was stolen right before our eyes."

Those who do know what is in store for the building are thrilled. "I think the gym really needs the renovating," Wustrack said. "I'm also looking forward to when we add all the other courts. That'll be great for everyone."

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