College in Claremont, California. The new facility is 95,000-square- feet and supports the Sagehens’ varsity, intramural, and club athletes as well as student physical education classes and fitness and recreation programming for students, faculty, and staff. Notable among the features of the Rains Center at Pomona-Pitzer College is the expansive
Sports and recreation facilities are a major part of the market in higher education, representing a significant draw to prospective students as well as a resource for current students to explore a variety of sports. Tom Jones, Project Executive for C.W. Driver Companies, explains, “any school tour is going to include or end with the recreation center.” In recent years, higher education sports and recreation facilities have evolved to become more robust, including features like rock climbing walls, swimming pools, indoor tracks, sophisticated exercise equipment, hot and cold tubs, and a host of different options depending on where the school is located. In places with access to suitable water, students are able to borrow kayaks and surfboards, which are housed and maintained within these facilities. As higher education sports and recreation facilities have expanded their offerings, the space needed to construct and update them has grown in tandem. According to Jones, building these facilities in limited spaces often presents unique challenges that can be time consuming if they aren’t managed correctly. One firm who has demonstrated a proclivity for opening these sorts of higher education facilities is C.W. Driver, a leading builder in California who has been in operation since 1919. Over the last several years, C.W. Driver has completed several noteworthy projects including recreational facilities for California State Universities Northridge, Long Beach, Cal Poly, Pomona, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, and San Francisco. Jones points out that the activities available at these robust sports and recreation–rock climbing, swimming pools, etc.–provide options that make them valuable assets to colleges and universities. Earlier this year in February, C.W. Driver announced the completion of the Rains Center for Athletics, Recreation, & Wellness at Pomona-Pitzer
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NOVEMBER 2023 csengineermag.com
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