PLYMOUTH, NH – Plymouth State University’s Active Living, Learning, and Wellness (ALLWell) Center is about to enter Phase II. Phase I was the Ice Arena and Student Welcome Center, or ALLWell South. Phase II will be a new field house, or ALLWell North, located behind the PE Center. “The Ice Arena has been great,” said Dr. Julie Bernier, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “I have even higher hopes for Phase II.”
The only thing delaying construction is money. “[It’s] really dependent on the funding,” said Bernier. “We’re working on the funding strategy right now… If we had the funding, we would potentially start in the spring.” Students shouldn’t look for Phase II anytime soon either, “Once we start, it’s about a 20 month construction project,” added Bernier.
An upgrade from the current field house, Phase II will construct a building as versatile as it is practical. “ALLWell North is academic, outdoor adventure, center for active living and healthy community, recreation, and a new athletic sport building,” said Bernier. “It’s twice as big as our current field house.”
The new field house will house a 200-meter indoor track, tennis courts, and practice space for other field sport activities, along with two synthetic turf game fields would be constructed, including bleachers, press boxes, scoreboards, and lighting. It would also hold classrooms for the Health and Human Performance (HHP) Department.
These classrooms would contribute to an upgrade over the current situation. “The HHP Department is our third largest, and they have classes in the PE Center all day….What happens is basically the building is shut down from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m,” said Bernier. “[The classrooms] makes it into a multipurpose facility where now we have a single use facility… Bernier also mentions how getting the HHP classrooms in the same building as their offices just makes sense. Some HHP classes are held currently held across the river in the Draper & Maynard building.
Bernier also feels that Phase II would be instrumental in bringing in more students. The new indoor track will be used help form an indoor track team. “This is one of our ways of attracting a body of students we don’t currently have,” said Bernier. She continued saying that the new field house might be able to host high school tournament meets, “could bring in a whole new audience of students who have never been on our campus.”
Phase II, like Phase I, could be a “huge piece in recruiting students,” said Bernier, but she feels that it will also help the community by providing recreation areas open to the public and the Center for Active Living and Healthy Community.