With students and faculty on vacation until early August, Pepperdine University took advantage of some quiet time to improve its athletic facilities at the Charles B. Runnels Sports and Recreation Village. Several major renovations are underway including a new wood floor on the basketball court at Firestone Fieldhouse, an expanded soccer field and significant refurbishments to the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
Construction began on the pool back in March, followed by the soccer field and gym in May. Completion of this major undertaking is expected to be done by mid-to-late August, with additional landscaping and hardscaping being finished in October. Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company is the lead contractor for the athletic improvements.
“We need facilities that match the quality of our institution,” said Steve Potts, Director of Athletics. “We’ve done that on other places on campus and these were a few that needed some updating. Plus we want to do everything we can to strengthen our programs by benefitting our student-athletes.”
Firestone Fieldhouse will be receiving a considerable facelift with a new maple wood floor being installed, new video scoreboard, new basketball standards and new floor seating for the teams and fans. This follows last summer’s renovation of the lobby, where the school’s NCAA Championship trophies, Hall of Fame recipients and Olympic honorees are prominently displayed and recognized.
Connor Sports Flooring, the official surface for the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four, will be installing the new floor in the coming weeks. This will mark the third time a new surface has been installed since President Gerald R. Ford dedicated the multipurpose facility in 1975.
The original versa turf rubber surface was replaced in the summer of 1992 with a wood floor. A new wood floor surface was installed during the summer of 2003. Now a brand new state-of-the-art “focus subfloor system” will provide a unique cushion below the wood to enhance athletic activities for the Pepperdine men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams.
A two-tone design will highlight the gym floor while keeping the same Pepperdine insignia at center court as before.
The video scoreboard replaces the old scoreboard, which has been in use since 1988. A highly sophisticated video and digital display will enrich the spectator’s experience.
Outside of Firestone Fieldhouse, a new plaza is being built for the first time since the early 1970s with a landscape of new grass, plants and bushes. New hardscape such as the stairs that lead up to the gym as well as around Firestone Fieldhouse will bring a similar feel to that of Joslyn Plaza on the main campus.
“This will be an incredible place to host receptions and other events such as our Hall of Fame dinner. It will certainly enhance the atmosphere. People are going to be astonished at the transformation,” Potts said.
Tari Frahm Rokus Field, home to the Waves women’s soccer team, is nearing completion after receiving its first upgrade since the 1995-96 season. The soccer field was enlarged to fit the standard width of 75 yards. The four inside lanes of the Stotsenberg Track were removed to assist in the field’s renovation.
New grass sod, new drainage and new irrigation were installed to improve the athletic playing surface. A yard-and-a-half buffer was created to separate the track from the field rather than the six inches previously. The track also received re-striping of its lanes.
The Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, site of the 1984 Olympic water polo competition and current home to the Pepperdine men’s water polo team and women’s swimming and diving, was completely dug up and is in the midst of a major upgrade.
A new main drain had to be put in and as a result, all new piping was required. The pool will also feature an additional hot tub, an expanded pool deck, new scoreboard and new hardscape that will surround the entire facility.
In addition to these major projects, Pepperdine’s intramural field and alumni park that sits high atop the campus overlooking the ocean was recently renovated and re-sodded to accommodate club lacrosse, club rugby and other school intramural programs. Phil Phillips, Pepperdine’s vice president for administration, and Wilbur Faulk, associate vice president for planning, operations and construction, are overseeing the projects.
“It’s all about quality. When you walk around this campus you see quality. There were some places that we needed to bring that quality to again,” Potts said. “You need to upgrade facilities otherwise you fall behind. The improvements inside and outside will make this university more attractive.
