Students, faculty and staff at Case Western Reserve University will notice a major change at the Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center when they return from winter break, as the indoor track and sport courts at the fieldhouse will be replaced with a state-of-the-art surface by Beynon Sports.
“The Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center is the centerpiece for recreational and community activities on our campus,” Amy Backus, director of athletics and chair of physical education, said. “The current renovation project will amplify the quality and aesthetics of this wonderful space for today and tomorrow’s students, faculty and staff. We are very proud of the facility and look forward to hosting the 2017 University Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships on the new surface. ”
The track, which has been in place for 17 years, will be resurfaced with a 10-millimeter BSS 2000 RE System. The surface will be finished with an encapsulated texture for the areas outside the basketball courts and on one basketball court, with a smooth spike proof texture on the remaining three basketball courts. The result will be a surface that provides improved force reduction, feel under foot, and resiliency.
The four basketball, tennis, volleyball and badminton courts in the center of the track also will be restriped, with the layout of the badminton courts changed to decrease glare and improve playability.
In addition to the enhanced quality of the running and playing surfaces, the project also will update the colors and logos in the facility. The track and courts will be in navy blue, with surrounded areas in gray, to match the university’s color scheme. A Spartan logo also will be prominently featured in the facility.
“While we take pride in every one of our installations, we were honored to be chosen by Case Western Reserve University to install the surface at the Veale Center,” said Drew Beynon, COO at Beynon Sports. “This facility will offer an exceptional ground for the Spartans’ competitions and daily training.”
Beynon has installed similar indoor surfaces at the University of Kansas–Anschutz Pavilion, Wartburg College, Yale University, the Spire Institute, Boston University and South Dakota State University.
“This is a very exciting opportunity for our program and the Department of Athletics and Physical Education, not only for the obvious advantages that it provides the varsity track and field program to improve an already great training and competition venue, but all those on campus who use this common recreation space,” Eric Schmuhl, head track and field coach, said. “It will certainly enhance a lot of what we do in this building.”
The project began Dec. 1 with a completion date scheduled for early January, in time for the return of students from winter break. The first meet on the new surface will be the CWRU Throwback Intrasquad on Friday, Jan. 15, with the Ninth Annual Battle for the Obelisk serving as the first intercollegiate meet on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Check back often throughout the project at athletics.case.edu for updated photos and videos as the new surfaces are installed throughout winter break.