When Tufts begins upgrades to its athletic facilities next fall, it will join its athletic and academic peers of the NESCAC. Here's a look at some of the more recent improvements made by other schools in the league.
Amherst: Gooding Field, 2007
The Lord Jeff's newest addition to their athletics department has not even been officially dedicated yet. Following Saturday's home games against Bowdoin, the school will hold a reception in honor of Peter and Myra Gooding for their donation to the college. The upgrade was critical; Amherst was the last NESCAC school whose field hockey and lacrosse teams still played on grass. Although the exact price tag was not available at press time, turf fields generally cost $1-3 million dollars, and Tufts' similar Bello Field, unveiled in 2004, cost $2.3 million.
Trinity: Albert Creighton Williams Ice Rink, 2006, $11 million.
Twenty-five months after breaking ground on the Koeppel Community Sports Complex, which housed a 200-by-90-foot ice rink for the men's and women's hockey teams, the Bantams showed off their new facility to the league with a pair of mid-November NESCAC games in 2006. For the first time, the program has a rink on campus. In the past, the team rented ice time from nearby Kingswood-Oxford prep school, forcing it to hold practice after 10 p.m.
Conn. College: Silfen Field, 2005, $1.4 million.
The newest facility on campus, Silfen Field's turf now hosts the school's field hockey and lacrosse programs, in addition to club sports and intramurals.
Bates: Lafayette Street Softball Diamond, 2001, $4 million.
Lafayette Street Softball Diamond was completed in the spring of 2001 as a part of a large athletic facilities construction project that cost $4 million. The new home for the Bates softball team features enclosed dugouts, an outdoor batting cage and a removable fence.
