While renovations to Cousens Gymnasium are scheduled to begin in March, economic woes continue to delay the remaining phases of the plan to revamp Tufts' athletics facilities.
Nearly a year and a half since University President Lawrence Bacow announced that a $10 million donation by Steve Tisch (A ‘71) would spur a wholesale expansion and renovation of athletics facilities on campus, no timetable has been set for when construction will begin on several key components of the project. Included amongst them are an expanded fitness center to be named in Tisch's honor, an international-sized squash court and a brand-new swimming pool.
Athletics Director Bill Gehling attributes the construction delays to the worldwide economic downturn, which has put all the university's capital projects on hold.
"If anyone had a crystal ball to tell you when the economy is going to turn around, they'd have a better sense of how long it might take to get started," he said. "It's really almost entirely dependent upon the economy getting itself straightened out."
"We certainly intend to still get it done," Gehling continued. "Hopefully, we're not going to put it off too long."
According to Director of Advancement Communications and Donor Relations Christine Sanni, the university has, to date, raised $17.2 million of the $54 million needed to cover the costs of the construction project. The entirety of the Tisch donation plus an extra $5.7 million will cover both the cost of the Cousens renovation as well as a portion the funds needed to double the current fitness space in the next phase of construction. An additional $1.5 million has been raised for the third phase of the project, which would build a replacement for the decades-old Hamilton Pool.
The university's goal is to raise the remaining 68 percent of the construction costs by 2011, Sanni wrote in an e-mail.
"We have made significant progress towards the fundraising, but it's just a matter of when we get to the point where the university is comfortable moving forward," Gehling said. "That's been delayed a little bit because of the economic crisis that we're in. That clearly affects a lot of things in the short term — your ability to raise funds, but also your ability to borrow money. Both impact whether any university would be comfortable moving forward with a construction project."
