Taylor / Teter Partnership

New aquatics center may attract top talent for newly resurrected sports program

After wrapping up one major construction project in 2009, Fresno State officials look to begin yet another before year’s end.

The Campus Planning Committee approved construction plans early this month for a state-of- the-art aquatic facility to be built alongside Bulldog Diamond.

The aquatics facility, scheduled to open in the summer of 2010, will serve as a swimming and diving complex for student athletes and a teaching amenity for the kinesiology department.

“The facility will provide us an on-campus state-of-the-art facility to showcase the Fresno State swimming and diving programs,” said John Kriebs, associate director of the athletics facilities and events.

Conceived as an auxiliary component, to the newly reinstated swimming and diving team, the $7 million state-funded project will replace the current facility, which did not meet NCAA requirements.

Designed by the Taylor/Teter Partnership in conjunction with pool consultants, the Aquatic Design Group, the new facility will feature a broad forecourt that will lodge three separate bodies of water: a competition sized swimming pool, a smaller pool which will be used primarily for kinesiology courses and a warm-up pool.

In addition to the three pools, the aquatic facility will boast an adjacent building for faculty.

A pedestrian walkway coined, “the walk of fame,” will trace a path along the periphery of the facility and lead onto campus. Sets of bleachers overlooking each body of water, complete with shade structures, will flank the east and west ends of the competition pool and allow fans to watch the action with their backs to the sun. Sloped canopies will serve as roofs, and a bullish dive tower will highlight the facility — all of which will tie in with the existing environment.

“With our structure, you will see a lot of the same colors, angles and materials already seen in buildings on campus,” said partner at the Taylor/Teter Partnership Paul N. Halajian.

The eight-lane pool’s uniqueness is its biggest asset. It will be built at a 15 degree angle, utilizing the height of the softball field to shield divers from the sun. The pool will also include a rotating bulkhead that when activated releases a floating raft that divides the pool in half.

Yet, the dive tower remains the marquee feature of the project.

A soaring complex of steps, steel and glass, the 45-foot tall dive tower will not only stand as an eye-catching image against the sky, it will become the highest diving platform in the Western Athletic Conference.

“It will allow us to attract the highest caliber of divers to our institution and sets us apart from our peer institutions in the WAC,” Kriebs said.

Halajian agreed, saying: “This will be a landmark for Fresno State. You’re going to see something protruding out above the stadium. It will command a sort of presence.”

But the design team doesn’t see this as the most impressive part of the facility.

Shaunt Yemenjian, an architect for the Taylor/Teter Partnership, says that the coolest feature is the storage space for the pool’s machinery.

“We took what most architects would typically try and hide and accentuated it,” Yemenjian said.

The storage space, which would be visible from Barstow Avenue, will have a translucent exterior, composed of polycarbonate glass, a compound typically used to make polymer plastics.

The glass diffuses light, giving the impression that the solid objects behind the glass are glowing.

Like most major building projects, the committee along with the architectural team came up with a feasibility study that identified deficiencies with the current aquatic facility.

“We looked at the age of the current facility, and measured the hazardous material that it contained,” said Yemenjian.

But two years ago the university began investing in the multimillion-dollar project to fix the problems.

“Its placement fits well with the athletic department’s vision as well as the long-term facility planning objective for the campus,” Kriebs said. “We currently contract with Clovis North to provide a training venue to our student-athletes, so this will benefit them by not having to travel off-campus to practice and compete.”

Unlike other on-campus construction, which forced streets to close and classes to be shifted, Halajian assures that the project won’t be much of a disruption to students.

The biggest headache in constructing the pool, according to Halajian, will be hauling out dirt and transporting materials where they’re needed. “You may see some traffic delays or we may have to close the street, but it won’t be anything major.”

The seven-month effort to build the aquatic facility will begin in November and take place in three phases. The first phase will take place primarily in the winter months and involves removing and rerouting existing utilities. Phase two will occur slightly after and that will be the initial building period for the pools. The final phase will see the finishing touches placed on the facility.

“I think the process will bring excitement and opportunity to the student body,” Kriebs said.