Sherwood Athletic Center is undergoing drastic changes. Alumna Donald Sherwood, former trustee and board chairman, and his wife Virginia would perhaps not recognize the building to which their name is attributed, had they still been alive to see the anticipated product of the renovation in the coming year.

The $15 million renovation process started over spring break and is projected to be completed by August 2009, just over 15 months of construction.

Main features of the remodel will include two new multi-purpose dance studios, enhanced locker rooms with designated team areas and a second full-sized gym that will include two high school courts as well as a varsity-sized court. By adjoining the space occupied by the former swimming pool and the existing small gym, this new space will serve to accommodate intramural and club sports teams, as well as varsity teams that practice during the same season.

“During the fall there are three teams sharing the main gym which makes it pretty tough for scheduling all the practices… this should be a lot better for people so they don’t have to practice at 10:30 at night, which is what we had to do in the fall,” said senior Garth Brandal, a student representative on the Sherwood Renovations Committee.

The construction team will be digging deeper into the climbing pit, giving the Outdoor Program a taller, more challenging climbing wall for students. The wall itself will be enclosed so that climbers have the opportunity to use the facility year-round for classes and open climbs, even during inclement weather. Large opening windows will permit passersby to watch climbers in action.

While the footprint of the building will stay intact, the appearance will “fit better with the campus,” said Whitman’s Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Peter Harvey, who is helping to coordinate and oversee the renovation process. “Part of the improvement of the building is to improve the insulation and add a layer of brick in a cavity wall, which will make it more energy efficient and also make it a better fit with the rest of campus.”

The construction team is working with the College to have a minimum impact on athletes during the renovation process. According to Dean Snider, Athletic Director and Chair of the Sherwood Renovation Committee, the demolition phase of the project will be completed this coming August. At this point, the main gym will be sealed off from construction and bathrooms and a classroom in the foyer will open, enabling varsity volleyball and basketball teams to have full access to the area for the 2008-09 season.

The dance studio will remain open; however, it is anticipated that yoga and pilates classes will be adversely effected by the sound of construction. There will be periodic closure of squash and racquetball courts.

Perhaps the biggest inconvenience will be the closure of the climbing wall, which will be unavailable to the student body for the entirety of the 2008-09 academic year.

“You have to deal with some inconveniences to move forward and progress like we are,” said Snider. “We will very quickly forget the inconvenience once we enter into the new facility. The new climbing wall is going to be absolutely beautiful.”
According to Harvey, the renovation process has been five to six years in the making. It is a product of an assessment plan of the long term athletic needs of Whitman College.

“We made the decision to do it in two phases, phase one being the building of the Baker Ferguson Fitness Center,” said Harvey. Because the projects have been approached in tandem, original drafts for Sherwood were created while the Baker Ferguson project was in its planning stages.

Opp and Siebold are overseeing the process. Based out of Walla Walla, they are the same contractors who work with the College on the Baker Ferguson Center construction project, which will provide continuity in the aesthetic of the two structures.

Harvey explained that when Sherwood was built in the 1960s it was a progressive building in that it was built into the ground so that it did not have a high roofline. This design served to improve energy efficiency.

Speaking to the pitfalls of the design, Harvey said, “It is very thick concrete…unfortunately that architectural style is not very consistent with the rest of the campus.”

“It looks like a Word War II fortress,” said Brandal. “They really can’t do worse, they’re definitely going to try to improve the appearance from the outside, and it will definitely be much better inside as well.”

From an environmental standpoint, the remodel will adhere to Leadership Energy Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines in its recycling of the existing structure, its use of more energy efficient and day lighting and its remodeling of the heating and air-conditioning system. Planter boxes surrounding the grounds will use rain guards, designed to require less watering.
The remodel will serve as a tremendous benefit to the varsity programs.

“Hopefully it should help us be more competitive [in the Northwest Conference],” said Harvey. “After [Sherwood] is done Whitman really has top of the line facilities in every way. Hopefully this can help us recruit good players and just be more competitive in all of our sports.”

“The primary piece that I am really excited about is the renovation of the locker rooms,” said Snider.

By remodeling the locker rooms and giving varsity athletes designated team areas, Snider explained, the College “is honoring their experience and recognizing the effort and contribution that varsity athletes put into this institution. [Whitman is] proving them with a space that helps them forge out and identity on campus, that I am really pleased with.”