Athletic Facilities Project: Collegiate Champion Football Field

The intent of this athletic facilities project assignment is to wrap one's head around a real-life scenario approach. The scenario herein involves a university football team facilities makeover, or re-design, which mends the current inadequate state of sports facilities present. This facilities project serves as a guide and consultative analysis which draws up preliminary plans for administration to consider. The process involves a provision of facts, detailed explanations as to why various remedies were given, and a general plan of action based upon findings from field experts and journal articles. 

Two main parts of the facilities project analysis involve a feasibility analysis, and an explanation of how to implement the plan and who to include. The feasibility analysis looks at short and long-term ramifications, economic impact, funding requirements, personnel needs, any policy changes, and a time frame in which to carry out the project. The second part irons out more concretely the details of the project facilities plan. The specified inadequacies pertain to the areas of improvement of coaches’ booth, parking area, practice fields, track area, spectator bleachers, football field turf upgrade, and scoreboard area remodeling and lighting. 

The context of the evolution of upgraded sports facilities occurs in the rubric of a Washington D.C. University football team facilities. The project herein furthermore serves as a referenced comparison that hopefully shall transform the bad facilities into an adequate one with vast improvements that are adequate. It is important to keep in mind to assume that this renovation journey begins with gathering requirements, meeting with principals, reviewing plans(s), and putting forth detailed designs. If you intend to place the possibility of such a project as outlined herein, it is vital to keep these things in mind to shed the light of real-life upon the scenario.  

Project Overview: Identification, Background, Goals, & Purpose

The project name for the new renovation of the athletics field shall be called The Collegiate Champion Football Field. Multi-purpose reasons why the new athletics facilities project should be named so is to garner pride in the new improvements, and to identify the facility as a central point of campus-wide community involvement as pertains to sports. The name, Collegiate Champion Football Field also shall represent a theme in the new athletic field park which commemorates or honors former collegiate football athletes who moved forward to carve out successful professional careers. Finally, with regards to the name Collegiate Champion Football Field shall reflect the quality standardized quality of turf, field conditions, high-quality coaches’ area, and every area of the facility in terms of health, nutrition knowledge, safety, and an example of design excellence organizational structure and staffing. 

The need is critical for a quality athletic design for a collegiate football field in proximity of Washington D.C. The facility enhancement project seeks to rectify the sub-standard grounds upon which the university is forced to operate its football operations upon currently. The photographs reveal the haphazard, non-uniform, unpaved parking area which is not well delineated from other portions of the field. The coaches’ booth needs to accommodate both visiting team and home team coaches for comfortable, safe seating arrangements plus allow for storage of emergency medical kits. Inadequacies in terms of spectator bleachers impede enough room for those watching events and bring questions to mind with regard to strength and safety standards in stadium seating. 

Goals for the bleachers would include State officials as stakeholders to approve according to the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (2013) “recommendations for outdoor bleacher design, construction, and maintenance” explained. There are pre-engineered structures approved for additions or straight-up renovations for permanent plans for outdoor school bleachers. The purchase for such bleachers may be arranged by local school boards however in any case bid documents review and lawful architectural approval and certifications are required. The goal overall is to provide excellent bleacher space ample for visitors and home team guests. 

Upgrade goals for the parking area, practice fields, track, and football field turf all need fundamental re-design due to inadequacies in quality, and clear area designations which provide safe flood-free, lead-free sports field areas. Due to the eastern seaboard region's weather patterns artificial turf may be very beneficial as to the re-design of these playing areas. We want to avoid soggy wet fields and/or chemical overload in the artificial materials which comprises turf. 

Feasibility Analysis

Short and long-term ramifications

- Short-term ramifications include gathering appropriate stakeholders for decision-making

- Short-term ramifications include gathering experienced contractors appropriately licensed by State

- Short-term ramifications include length of project overall with length of time frame and unforeseen delays

- Short-term ramifications include University approved standardization in Field Turf system

- Short-term ramifications include following steps involved in conduct of bid meetings

- Long-term ramifications include school board investigations of process in terms of writing specifications, advertising for fund-raising or finished product, and finalizing design plans

- Long-term ramifications include avoidance of dealing with inexperienced contractors though licensed

- Long-term ramifications include revamp of athletic surfaces as acceptable to withstand flooding or icy weather conditions, and generally able to endure field practice activities over time

- Long-term ramifications include quality improvement of field and turf which enhances athletic performance boosting school value and educational sports delivery options for college students

- Long-term ramifications include the coordination of purchasing alliances

- Long-term ramifications include collegiate-approved standardization of all athletic field surfaces

- Long-term ramifications include whether to use the same or different sources for practice and field surfaces, as running tracks

- Long-term ramifications include decisions whether to consult with area leaders in terms of other universities which may have state-of-the-art athletic fields and can be consulted to improve area standards and overall pride for the educational athletic community at large

Economic impact

-  Investigating cooperative purchasing possibilities

- Sustainability in terms of not depleting funding wherein inferior outdoor track or field surfacing wears out, or ill performs in adverse weather; in other words, weighing a good investment

- Ensuring contracts that negotiate the most cost effective and preferential pricing for school boards to consider

- Consider leveraging purchasing power in terms of perhaps creation of a joint project with other area school, either on collegiate level or high-school level to improve area-wide educational athletic conditions

- Consider strength in numbers of building an economic coalition of price sharing over time, perhaps a 5-year multi-million-dollar program as opposed to a quick fix

- Decide on weighing benefits of volume purchasing statewide or citywide

- Putting money where best affordable methods will work

- Choosing the highest quality, environmentally safest negotiated surfacing for the lowest possible pricing while using the highest quality materials that will last

- Making sure the planning, organizing, and negotiations line up in agreement with financial goals, savings, and contractor agreements

- Making sure to cover all bases with proper purchasing of insurance

- Save the school/university time and energy by incorporating a cooperative step-by-step process which is strictly followed and laid out, involving all pertinent parties

- Hiring coordination experts to keep funding on course, school board stakeholders and components informed, and stick to economic spending plans to not go over budget for any unforeseen reasons

- Hiring consultative entities familiar with Field Turf remodeling, and investing in their expertise in having dealt with purchasing contracts of other collegiate institutions before

- Spend money and economic investment to consult with Atlas Track & Tennis Cooperative Purchasing to help design a specified budget that enhances school athletic facilities and makes sense for negotiation purposes that simultaneously fulfills customer expectations

- Make sure quality turf addresses the cost of environmentally safe artificial surfaces that will come with a guarantee or warranty to last at least five years, but preferably longer

- Deal with only quality companies that have demonstrated a strong record for safety, quality, pricing, and quality performance of practice field turf willing to pay a little more for quality rather than going basement-bargain hunting

- Economic impact will be compromised if rush to product is done and accepting any off-the-shelf product as opposed to tailoring the need specifically to the Collegiate Champion Football Field in Washington, D.C.

- Focus on the future impact of the economic decisions without gambling on the success with a poor, cheap quality turf surface that may look good but not perform as well as could be

- Invest in the budget at the outset for upgrades, removals, and re-installations if necessary, given any extreme weather conditions that may affect reasons for replacement down the line

- Decide whether or not to invest in third-party warranties, and be clear on making this decision and make sure there will be no problems with later filing a claim if need be, whose warranties should be a testament to the quality and durability of the product in the first place

Funding required

- Consultative experts should confer with all stakeholders in a pre-conference setting

- Possibilities may range from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 depending upon levels of extensive remodeling

Personnel needs

- World class maintenance crews and training for existing personnel is required to care for new turf and field practice turf surfaces

- Personnel in place needs to understand and be educated on the turf care and maintenance

- New personnel should be hired to specifically and routinely care for new turf, cleaning of coach booths, caring for track lanes, and sustainability of new bleacher setting

Policy changes

- Based on physical evidence policy changes should match care and upkeep, and reporting of any problems with the new facilities including parking area

- Periodically reporting and review of newly renovated facilities should occur quarterly, with photographic reviews and inspections distributed to all stakeholders including collegiate board members

Time frame to implement.

- Proper time frame to implement erection of the new Collegiate Champion Football Field shall span between three and six months, preferably over the summer months to allow for the avoidance of inclement weather during installation

Collegiate Champion Football Field: Coaches Booth

-  The goal in designing a coaches’ booth is to solve the problem of accommodation of home team coaches and visiting coaches

- The Collegiate Champion Football Field Coaches Booth is to be part of an athletic facility that can accommodate all outdoor sports, not just football

- The Coaches Booth has a design goal of creation of an enjoyable, clean, green, and state-of-the-art

booth that keeps weather such as rain/snow/mud/sludge out and provides a comfortable safe area adequate to hold a full team of coaches

- The Coaches Booth shall have adequate seating and a Medical First Aid Kit large enough to handle multiple wounds and a built-in phone system that can instantly notify local medical personnel to handle any serious injuries of players in order for a timely response for help

Collegiate Champion Football Field: The Parking Lot Area

- The parking lot area shall correspond to non-interference with the playing and practice areas and be separately designated in a cleanly paved area away from direct proximity to the bleachers

- The parking facility shall provide adequate non-dirt surfacing to allow for smooth parking of cars, or trucks on the athletic premises

- The parking facilities may be designed in two or three areas around the perimeter of the athletic field and practice areas, so as not to distract or interfere with player safety

- The parking lot facilities area shall provide a non-grassy surface with well-designated lines with well-planned commitment to space arrangements

- The parking facilities may have a single-person booth at the main entrance to coordinate operations of parking during events, and allow management of space allocations

- In consideration with budget negotiation there may be the possibility of erecting a separate parking structures, which is a multi-level parking structure to building codes and control parking in a single area

Collegiate Champion Football Field: Practice Fields and Track Area

- Maximizing the space utilization for new field turf and side-grass design of practice field and track

- Specialized drainage systems shall be engineered along with architectural design of turf field materials to avoid water from flooding or ponding, either during practice or live game events

- Practice field design of the new Collegiate Champion Football Field shall provide appropriate requirements for soil bases to percolate to detention area to maintain long-term integrity of the field

- Practice field turf design shall keep utilities in mind, and be adequately designed and engineered to withstand high water tables, storm conditions, and runoff whether in use, or not in use

- Practice field turf design shall be upgraded to endure environmental issues of topography in terms of slopes, uneven ground swells, sitting atop landfills, or otherwise land issues which also impact costs of maintenance or corrective repair

- Consideration that grass and synthetic turf can be costly, should be carefully integrated into the budget consensus from the outset

- Playing field are also practice and performance/event field locations and therefore the design should reflect fields dual purpose as both training, and playing game situations with the highest quality of both grass and synthetic turf

- Workout rooms and locker rooms must be adequately provided as well

- In keeping with the theme of the new Collegiate Champion Football Field, design images of past professional football heroes may be depicted throughout as in concrete wall images and/or photographs of successful professional athletes particularly from the area of Washington D.C.

- Cater to the whole person not just the athlete, providing a facility both students and community can be proud of and feel a part of thus providing a sense of ownership for all community members

Collegiate Champion Football Field: Adequate Bleachers

- Perhaps nothing adds to the look and feel more, after the playing field, than the bleachers which should be first of all in compliance with school/state and local city standards

- Bleachers plans need to be permanent installations and reviewed with the utmost of care for safety and comfort

- The new Collegiate Champion Football Field Bleachers shall be an intricate part of the overall project and purchased as a complete renovation addition to the upgraded sports facilities plan

- The new Collegiate Champion Football Field Bleachers shall pass highest standards of architectural review, structural design safety, and be certification-worthy

- The bleachers shall provide adequate mobilization for spectators to move safely in and out of the seating areas

- The bleachers shall be appropriately anchored to a minimum thickness of concrete slab in order to secure construction and anchorage of joints

- In the construct of bleachers wherein most likely are aluminum shall retain a manufacturer's written instruction and warranty plan

- Bleachers shall prevent any type of erosion due to weather conditions, liquid spillage, and regularly maintained to the highest degree

- Bleachers shall be protected during inclement weather

- Any decisions to modify placement or such to the bleachers once installed, shall be carried out by supervisory engineers

- Chain link fencing is a good idea to frame bleachers, as an encasement feature

- Bleachers occupation capacity shall be particularly adhered to and provide as maximum capacity as possible to safely allow for both loads and adequate number of exits as to avoid over-crowding

- Any appropriate guard rails, aisle widths, or handrails shall comply

- Bleachers need to allow for special wheelchair access and spacing, for integral seating so accommodating those in need

Collegiate Champion Football Field: Scoreboard Blue Poles & Lighting

- Scoreboard technology shall be of the latest technology utilizing clear LED illumination

- Scoreboard technology shall provide a seamless digital technology with electrical power

- Scoreboard technology shall preserve electrical power, lowering costs effectively while providing longer bulb life

- Scoreboard technology shall have a long-life warranty of operation for at least thirty years with adequate plans for upkeep and warranties for repair

- Scoreboard shall have technological capability to display school college's name or name of facilities, Collegiate Champion Football Field when not in use for games

Conclusion

All in all, there exist a plethora of viable options for an athletic facilities project for a collegiate environment in the area of Washington, D.C. When consideration of upgrades to coaches’ booths, parking area, practice and track field, provision of adequately improvement in bleachers, upgrade of football synthetic turf and underlying soil issues along with scoreboard technology is no small task. Yet the key to a successful project is sound economic planning, and creation of a team effort to implementation of the plan. 

References

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College Sports Scholarships. (2013). Practice and training facilities for college athletes [Data file] Retrieved from http://www.collegesportsscholarships.com/college-athletes-recruiting-training-facilities.htm 

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National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities NCEF. (2013). Athletic facilities design [Data file] Retrieved from http://www.ncef.org/rl/athletic_facilities.cfm?date=4 

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