B-School Breaks Ground For $18 Million Gym

It was accomplished quietly, without fanfare or ceremony, but the groundbreaking for the Business School's newest building--an $18 million gymnasium and recreational center--is complete and construction is underway.

On October 5, workers from the Macomber Contracting Co. began excavating the site on North Harvard Street directly opposite Harvard Stadium. Since then, about 75 percent of the foundation has been dug out, said Doug Heath, project manager for the construction of the facility and associate director of administrative operations at the B-School.

Next week concrete will be poured for the foundation walls and column supports, allowing erection of the steel superstructure to take place in mid-January. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in March 1989.

The two-story, Georgian-styled brick building will serve the more than 3000 members of the Business School community with three basketball courts, five squash courts, four racquetball courts, a jogging track, two aerobics studios, a conditioning room, a weight room and a lounge area into which the B-School's Pub-Galley will be moved.

Students said that the new gym will hopefully allevaite some of the crunch on the B-School's current athletic facility, Carey Cage.

"I think it's a great thing," said Amy Davidson, a first-year student. "I work out at Carey, but it gets very crowded and there's not much equipment."

The new gym will also provide a home for the Pub-Galley, a snack shop during the day and a T.V. lounge serving beer and wine at night and on weekends. Currently located in Gallatin Hall, one of the B-School dorms, the pub has drawn complaints from Gallatin residents about the noise level it produces.

"Right now Gallatin doesn't have its own lounge as all the other dorms do, plus the Pub creates a lot of noise, making it difficult for the students next to it to study," Heath said. "Especially when there are ballgames on."