Amid the new construction that was completed at the start of this semester many Pepperdine students heard whispers about potential additions and renovations to the Firestone Fieldhouse. Owing to the budget cuts plans for construction in the athletic area of the campus had to be put on hold but according to Senior Associate Athletic Director Steven Potts there are now plans underway.
“Last year there was a plan to remodel Firestone Fieldhouse and that was supposed to begin in May but the university decided last fall once the economy situation came in to put those plans on hold Potts said.
There has been much speculation as to what these plans actually entail.
Athletically our next facility project is going to be building a new event center on campus Potts said. We have been talking about building a new event center for probably at least 10 years but the process is underway now.”
He also stated that the athletic renovations are just a small part of an overall campus life project that is looking at ways to improve the entire campus. Some of these projects include new dorms and permanent seating at the soccer field.
With little space and strict noise violations there are questions as to how a new event center would be positioned on campus.
“The plan is to build the event center on Rho parking lot and then in conjunction with that build a new parking garage Potts said. It’s all part of the campus life project.”
The addition of a new 200000 square foot event center would greatly improve Pepperdine’s recruitment and Division 1 competition capability according to Potts.
“I think a new event center would not only improve the quality of our athletic program it would certainly assist all our teams not just the ones that play inside Potts said. It will be a much better facility that will allow us to be able to serve our current student-athletes but also it will make a huge difference in recruiting.”
Along with the event center would come another weight room reserved for Division 1 athletes and a more central location for all athletic offices.
“Right now our coaches and staff are sort of scattered all over this side of the campus in very small offices that make it difficult to do their jobs Potts said. Our plan is to not only move out of Heritage Hall but also out of Firestone Fieldhouse with the exception of aquatic sports.”
Although the focus of a new event center would be on the court utilized by volleyball and basketball teams all students would benefit from the add-on.
“We hope someday to have a new aquatic center adjacent to the new event center but that will more than likely be done in another phase Potts said.
Furthermore, once the event center is complete, plans indicate a refurbishment of Firestone Fieldhouse as a recreation center for all students.
The new event center also raises concerns about the strict noise violation policy held on campus. However, Potts said that Pepperdine has worked toward an agreement with the nearby Malibu residents.
Anything we do on this campus we try to do as a good neighbor Potts said. We discuss those issues regularly to make sure we are being a good neighbor but we need to make them understand that as a university we have certain needs and we can’t eliminate all noise to do what we need to do.”
Potts also said that residents understand plans for a new event center are in progress.
Most students currently on campus will not be around long enough to see the final project which is expected to be conclude in five to seven years.
According to Potts Pepperdine must go through multiple lengthy processes to get approved for the new construction.
“There is a whole permissional process that we have to go through Potts said. Right now we are in the process of going through the Los Angeles County permissional process with the whole campus life project.”
The process includes informing the county about exactly what the new plans include and the environmental impact they are expected to have.
Then the university must seek approval from the California Coastal Commission.
Other questions such as how the construction will affect students during the academic year remain unanswered.
“I don’t know exactly what the logistical plans are because it’s not going to happen next year so we have a little while to plan it out Potts said. With any construction project there will be some inconvenience but it will be well worth it.”
A large amount of work remains not only logistically but with the actual layout of the new center.
“We have had some architects work on it but they have mostly just been designing conceptually but not necessarily designing fully the interior space Potts said.