Perry Field House Tour Reflection
Sunday, November 7th, 2010 | Assignments for TLEP 4830
Having never been to the Perry Field House, I was very interested to go inside and see what it was like. I was surprised, because I thought it would have been bigger, but I suppose we may not have seen the entire building, such as offices and locker rooms. When I first entered into the track and field/ basketball court area, I was very impressed with its size and how nice it looked. It was not until Dave Hollinger began pointing out the flaws of the area that I began to notice that while the quality of the area may be nice, the layout and amount of space, is not.
When compared to the aspects of the book the indoor track and field does not seem to meet the requirements of safety very well. It may meet the minimum requirements for space, but as many people know, sometimes the minimum just does not cut it. The fact that they had to modify the track in order to meet the new safety regulations for the pole vaulting area is just ridiculous. If I were the one who had built the field house, I would have made sure to put the pole vaulting area further away from the track, on the other side. This way, when sitting in the stands guest’s vision would not be blocked by the student’s pole vaulting. I would have also arranged the area this way because I feel pole vaulting can be very dangerous if not done properly. There is no need for random visitors or athletes to be walking through a competition site while trying to get to their event, it is too dangerous.
Another aspect that I feel the Perry Field House has failed at meeting the suggestions in the book is the bleachers. I understand that it is difficult to raise the money for extra space within a facility, but bleachers are a big deal in sporting events. The fact that the bleachers are roll away ones, to me, is alright. By having roll away bleachers it allows for more practice area when competitions are not in play, it also allows for different event set ups to take place and not have an eye sore in the middle of the room. My only problem with the bleachers is that the designers did not really give them a designated spot. As Dave was saying, the bleachers are set up in the center of the track, meaning visitors must walk over the track to get to their seats, as well as continuously turn their heads to see the competition. Having experienced a track like this before, it can be very annoying to not see the whole race due to poor design and set up.
Something that I was very surprised to learn was that the basketball floors in the field house are better than those located in Anderson Arena! I definitely think this meets, if not surpasses, suggestions in the book because it is nice to see good quality flooring being provided to your average students, not just those who are athletes. While it may be annoying to have to cover the expensive flooring while an event is going on, visitors who see the area without the cover will definitely be impressed by it. This in return will cause visitors to comment on how nice and new the field house looks, and it will give BGSU a better image.
The second area that I feel meets the standards in the book was area for the indoor football and soccer. Although the turf is not the most up to date, the area is large enough for a game to be played and it can be easily maintained. The field is large enough for visitors to walk around the outside of the field without interrupting play and it is also located very close to the main doors of the facility. There is an accurate amount of lighting in the room, as well as trial lighting that is supposed to save energy costs. It is nice to see that all different aspects of Bowling Green’s campus are trying new ways to be more energy efficient.
Overall I thought the space in the field house was really nice. Being one of the newer buildings on campus I wish it were one that I, and visitors, was able to use and see more often. A lot of people don’t even know where the field house is, or what it does.