A new $53.67 million Indoor Track & Field Facility at Gately Park has completed construction in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood.
The 139,375-sf building features a 118,000-sf field house that includes a 200-meter, six-lane running track; high jump and long jump pits; pole vault, hurdle, and relay areas; throw cages; sprint lanes; concession areas; locker rooms; and seating for 3,500 spectators.
The remaining 22,000 sf includes a fitness center, multipurpose rooms for community use, Chicago Park District administrative offices, and After School Matters programming space. The After School Matters area, which was designed by Eckenhoff Saunders Architects, includes a dance and exercise studio, a full culinary teaching kitchen, gathering/performance space, a rooftop deck and garden, and multipurpose labs for art, music, science, and technology. The flexible design allows the space to convert to multiple athletic purposes and can accommodate four basketball and six volleyball courts.
The facility’s main feature is its oval track that can be banked to eliminate the centrifugal force that makes athletes lean one way or the other, allowing them to achieve their top speed. The track’s interior lane rests on a pivot and the support system underneath rests on hydraulic cylinders that are part of the actuator system that makes it possible to bank the track for a race. Depending on the length of the race, the track has as many as six preset banking angles. When not in use, all of the track’s lanes lay flat so the space can be used for additional recreation.
The building also features a column-free design as to not interfere with track and field events, which meant the fieldhouse roof was constructed with six massive, 252-foot-by-20-foot-deep barrel-vaulted, 120-ton roof trusses that span the entire width of the space.
In addition to Williams Architects, the build team also included McHugh Construction and Bowa Construction.
Related Stories
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
Esri’s interactive guide to 2014 World Cup Stadiums
California-based Esri, a supplier of GIS software, created a nifty interactive map that gives viewers a satellite perspective of Brazil’s many new stadiums.
| Jun 4, 2014
Construction team named for Atlanta Braves ballpark
A joint venture between Barton Malow, Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, and New South Construction will build the Atlanta Braves ballpark, which is scheduled to open in early 2017. Check out the latest renderings of the plan.
| Jun 2, 2014
Parking structures group launches LEED-type program for parking garages
The Green Parking Council, an affiliate of the International Parking Institute, has launched the Green Garage Certification program, the parking industry equivalent of LEED certification.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
| May 22, 2014
Just two years after opening, $60 million high school stadium will close for repairs
The 18,000-seat Eagle Stadium in Allen, Texas, opened in 2012 to much fanfare. But cracks recently began to appear throughout the structure, causing to the school district to close the facility.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 16, 2014
Toyo Ito leads petition to scrap Zaha Hadid's 2020 Olympic Stadium project
Ito and other Japanese architects cite excessive costs, massive size, and the project's potentially negative impact on surrounding public spaces as reasons for nixing Hadid's plan.
| May 13, 2014
First look: Nadel's $1.5 billion Dalian, China, Sports Center
In addition to five major sports venues, the Dalian Sports Center includes a 30-story, 440-room, 5-star Kempinski full-service hotel and conference center and a 40,500-square-meter athletes’ training facility and office building.
