Board of Visitors Approves Renovation Plans for English Field, Rector Field House

 

vt_baseball_english_field_union_park_02

Virginia Tech announced a large renovations project involving multiple facilities on Monday, including English Field at Union Park and Rector Field House.

The cost of the project is $36 million, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. The money will be fundraised as well as financed.

“The results of this vote of the Board of Visitors will have a tremendously positive effect on a large number of student athletes at Virginia Tech,” Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said in a statement. “As we strive to provide only the best for our programs, this all-encompassing project will serve as a bellwether for our entire department and help place us near the top of athletics facilities.

vt_baseball_english_field_union_park_01

 

The biggest renovations include a “complete reconstruction” of English Field at Union Park, as well as a new hitting facility for Virginia Tech softball, which will be added onto Rector Field House. The inside of Rector is also getting a facelift, in order to benefit track and field, lacrosse and soccer.

The renovations at English Field at Union Park will include redoing the main seating area and bringing it closer to the field. There will also be a “club area” behind the first base dugout. The seating capacity is expected to be around 1,500, in addition to the left field terrace seating.

The press box will include four different suites, enough to house a working press box, television, radio and game operations. The concourse will have enhanced concessions and restrooms. The scoreboard will also be replaced with a modern video board in right field.

vt_baseball_english_field_union_park_03

 

The baseball team will get a new clubhouse in the ground floor of the Jim Weaver Baseball Hitting Facility. It will include a locker room, player lounge, equipment room and video room.

For Rector Field House, the largest addition will be an indoor throws area that can be used for practice and for games. The eastern entrance of Rector will be redone, as well as an outdoor plaza between Rector and Tech Softball Park.

There will be a North wing addition to Rector as well, which will include a training room, as well as two halftime locker rooms that can be used for soccer and lacrosse. Track and field will also have access to this area.

vt_rector_field_house_2016_01

 

The new softball hitting facility will include four hitting cages, as well as an indoor field that can be used during inclement weather.

The entire new Rector Field House will be used year-round by various teams in the athletic department and will add a whopping 32,000 square feet to the current structure. Cannon Design is the architect for the project, Whiting Turner will handle the renovations to English Field at Union Park and Branch and Associates will take care of the Rector Field House and Tech Softball Park improvements.

12 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. RLB:
    i know stats list English field seating capacity as “1,033 chair backed seats” plus the terraces.
    but with that enlarged grandstand behind home plate and the new “club area” seating, we only reach 1,500 “seats” !? wow, sure looks larger than that.

    btw: to Hokies credit and considering cold early season gamedays, recent sub-par seasons and existing ‘small-time’ English Field seating, we had the 49th largest college baseball average attendance: “In 2013, the Hokies ranked 49th among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 1,333 per home game.” — Wikipedia

    Go Hokies!

  2. Y E S ! +++ now we’re cooking!

    this much-needed design brings about the best of retaining/enhancing the intimacy/Hokie culture of English and putting a millennial/modernizing brand on our baseball program that we can be proud of.
    i noticed the asymmetry of the entry façade and account for it as an accommodation to the west side “club area” seating plus the existing vehicular entry from DuckPond Dr. i think the offset may also help the outfielders be able to see the ball coming off the bat against a darker background.
    i only wish two things had been incorporated into this tremendous design:
    (a) we could have added a Hokie baseball Clubhouse under those “club area” seats (even if DuckPond Dr had to be relocated), and
    (b) that the batting facility/indoor practice infield could have been built-in along the right field line next to the Clubhouse as well. (Arch72 and Hokies23: i’ve CADed plans and sketches my[arch75]self.)
    the addition to Rector just seems an awkward appendage to a non-baseball facility — but i have to admit the architects did a magnificent job of blending Rector with the two new “pavilions” through their treatment of the combo south+east+entry vestibule perspective. well done!

    maybe we should build some more parking for the larger crowds this facility and better baseball will be attracting to English Field::Union Park.

    Go Hokies!
    Go BOV! and Whit!

  3. Baseball (and Softball) are BEAUTIFUL Sports – now we will have the facilities to match!
    GO HOKIES!

  4. Looks awesome! But one question – when you look at the English Field render (photos 2 and 3), it looks like the breezeway isn’t centered on the field. Am I seeing that right? Even the “English Field at Union Park” sign on the facade looks left of home plate.

    1. As an Architect myself, I can confirm you are seeing that right. I’m sure there is a reason for the asymmetrical design.

  5. Nicely done. It brings a smile to my face to see these improvements.

    I think about when I played flag football in Rector in the 70’s and all I can say is, I’m damn glad to be a Hokie.

  6. Awesome! I had done some sketches on my own of what i thought the baseball park could look like and those very closely mimic my ideas. Love the updates to the field house as well. Makes it fit in with campus now.

Comments are closed.