OSU Athletics
Just One More 130 Million Dollar Gem
Part Two
By John Porentas[Editor's Note: This is installment two of what will now be a three-part series. If you have not already done so, we suggest you read Installment One before reading Installment Two.]
Making the Dreams Come True
"We had our dream of what we wanted the pool to be."
So spoke Associate Director of Athletics Miechelle Willis of the McCorkle Aquatics Center. One of the goals of the pool is of course to attract better competitive swimmers to Ohio State, but Willis says there was more to it than that.
"Aside from the obvious, to help attract higher quality student-athletes to our program, we also wanted to be able to host things," she said.
"We've not been able to host the Big Ten championships for years because of the size of our facility. We want to host NCAA championships, Big Ten championships, trials for national teams. As we decided what we wanted to do, we realized what kind of facility we would need to build in order to do that."
The dreams were lofty, but the fact remained that the project was 30 million dollars over budget when the original estimates came in. Planners looked for places to save money, but making cuts was tough, and often didn't really make sense.
"In talking to the NCAA and other facilities that host a lot of those things we asked what are the things that we would need. The size of the deck was very important because of the number of student-athletes and officials involved. For televised swim meets they usually put a camera track on the deck, so you need wide decks.
"We wanted seating on both sides. As a spectator who runs around with our teams, there are facilities that I absolutely do not like being a spectator in because there's only seating on one side so there is limited seating at the finish line. Those kind of aspects for hosting those events were things we really looked at when we toured different facilities. Then the budget came in, and we were really very much over budget when the first numbers came in," Willis said.
Instead of busting the budget, small compromises were made that added up to significant savings, yet allowed the pool to be nearly exactly as originally planned.
"Initially we wanted 10-foot deep water throughout the entire 50 meters. We cut that to 10 feet for 25 of the meters and then it goes to seven feet," said Willis.
"That saved us a substantial amount of money. One deck is 20 feet wide, the other deck is 19 feet wide. I was shocked at how much money that saved us. We initially started with wanting seating for 2,000 spectators, and we ended up taking that to around 1,500," Willis said.
The compromises were small, but enough to bring the project nearly back into budget, but still slightly over. Some hard decisions had to be made.
"The dive spa was initially cut out, but as we talked to other facilities, they told us that we would have to pay more-than double to add it later, so we decided to go ahead with the dive spa. The athletic department kicked in more money to get that done," said Willis.
The department of athletics kicked in an additional 2 million dollars for that dive spa, and with that, the project was fully funded with the original design nearly completely intact. In all, the Department of Athletics contributed 18 million dollars toward the cost of the facility, an amount representing 65% of the total cost of the competition facility.
Overcoming the Other Obstacles
The dream was taking shape, but there was some resistance to the idea of leaving venerable old Larkins. It was old, but it also was the repository of a lot of swimming history.
"If you went around and asked other teams, they liked coming to the Peppe pool. They liked the old decor, the history behind it, and quite honestly even though it was outdated, it was a fast pool," said former OSU swimmer Matt Bretcher.
Bretcher lettered four years as a swimmer at Ohio State, from 1984 through 1987. He remains involved in the Ohio State sports scene as a broadcaster and as the P.A. announcer for men's basketball games that the Jerome Schottenstein Center. You may know him better as Matt McCoy of the 610 WTVN radio sports team. In that capacity, Bretcher has kept abreast of the trends in college sports, and says that the time for change had come at Ohio State, despite the history associated with the Peppe Natatorium.
"I was amazed when I went to the last meet at Peppe pool in February or late January," said Bretcher.
"After the meet was over, it was bittersweet, because you have this great facility coming in, but this is where your life was. I was amazed. I got permission to take one last look at the locker room. I hadn't been in there in 20 years, and I was dumfounded.
"Nothing had changed. The paint was the same, the word 'Enthusiasm' was written up the stairs. The team was getting dressed in there and I told them I felt like I just went in time machine, because it was exactly the same. I guess my point is that 20 years ago when I was swimming, our facility was nice, but outdated. Now, it's really outdated. It was desperately needed, but at the same time there was some sense of loss over the history and tradition that that building represented. It was time for the change."
Still, there was some resistance to a change, but Men's Head Swimming Coach Bill Wadley came up with a unique way of making the move more acceptable to the traditionalists.
Wadley organized The Last Dip, an event held last year the weekend of the homecoming football game. Wadley invited all swimming alumni to attend. The alumni participated in a number of in-pool events, and one very special ceremony that was begun last year but is not yet complete. Former OSU swimmer and team 1974 team captain Joe Budde told the rest of the story.
"We had a dinner that night after the (homecoming) football game and we had 175 people at the dinner. There were guys that came from as far as Hawaii, guys who hadn't seen each other for years," said Budde.
"This fall for Homecoming there's going to be The First Dip in the new facility. When we were there for homecoming last year at The Last Dip, Bill (Wadley) had little test tubes with plastic caps and everybody got to get a tube, fill it with water from the pool, and we're all supposed to bring them down this fall and dump them in the new pool to commingle the water. I've got mine and I'll be there," said Budde.
The new center will open in September, but certain people have already seen it just prior to completion, among them Bretcher, and after that glimpse, he's sure the decision to replace Peppe Natatorium was the right one.
"When I went over a couple of weeks ago to take a tour of the new place, my jaw was on the floor. It's fantastic," said Bretcher.
"Credit to Ohio State for doing it right. Mr. Geiger, Bill Wadley, they certainly did it the right way, because it's state of the art, just like the Peppe Pool was state of the art back in 1938," said Bretcher.
The finished-product competition pool will fill all the missions planned, among them the ability to attract better athletes to OSU.
"I'm not going to sit here and predict national titles, but that facility will attract swimmers that would not have considered Ohio State in the past," said Bretcher.
"The facility will have such an impact on kids that are coming in on recruiting visits that I think you're going to attract some kids that maybe in the past would have gone into the old Peppe Pool and thought otherwise. They don't care about history. They want a pool that is state of the art and will allow them to be the best that they can be, and they have that facility that will now allow them to be the best they can be."
It will also fulfill the requirement that the facility be able o attract and accommodate major competitive swimming events to the OSU campus.
"Minnesota seats 1,350 and we're 1520. Theirs is the biggest there is on campus in America. When we open, we'll be the biggest," said Men's Swimming Coach Bill Wadley. "The standing room only area adds around 200 on each side, so as many as 1900 or so can watch a meet," Wadley said.
The pool will meet every requirement to be a host venue for major competitive swimming events.
"We have two handicapped seating areas. The decks are 20 feet on each side with 20 feet between the competition pool and the diving well. We have 30 feet of deck at the end. The athletes love having a big deck because it's a place for them to stretch, for them to stay active. We think there's seating on deck for 1200 to 1300 people, so we can host any meet in America. The largest meets in America are around that size," said Wadley.
Though not yet opened, the facility has already landed the privilege of hosting two major swim meets.
"We do have the Big 10 Women, which is March of 2006," said Wadley. "We have the Big 10 championships for men in March of 2007. Those two will probably be our first two major events."
Tomorrow: The End Result. The Aquatic Center Itself.
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