Sunbathers continue to inhabit Sunset Canyon’s grassy knoll and men’s water polo morning practices have resumed ““ a typical scene for early fall at UCLA’s Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.
This year, however, there is slightly more traffic than usual at the beginning of fall quarter.
Somewhere beneath the surface of the recreation center’s visible landscape, the initial stages of UCLA’s most recent construction endeavor are underway.
The Spieker Aquatic Center, the new competition center for UCLA’s water sports, is currently in its preliminary stages of construction, laying the foundation for the complex.
“They’re in the ground right now,” Brian Pratt, an architect from Bauer and Wiley, the firm heading the project, said of the center’s status. “It’s all about the utilities, foundations and excavations right now.”
Since ground was broken in June, the project has abided closely to its construction schedule. Completion of the center is scheduled for fall 2009.
“It seems to be going very smoothly,” Pratt said. “We have a great contractor. They’re making great progress.”
So far, there have not been any problems implementing the plans in the contract.
Because of the pre-existing structures surrounding and within the site, such as the bleachers and lower level tennis courts, there is an increased likelihood that the approach to the project will need to be reassessed.
But so far, so good.
“Whenever you’re building in such a tight site, it’s likely you’ll run into something unforeseen,” Pratt said. “So far it’s been really smooth.”
The completed center will boast a 52-meter pool, dividing bulkhead, diving platform, springboards, men and women’s locker rooms, a lifeguard operations room, permanent seating for 500 spectators, a hot spa for diving, a champion’s board and an LED scoreboard.
Collaboration with the various departments involved has been an important part of the entire process. The primary constituencies with stakes in the project are UCLA Athletics and the UCLA Department of Recreation.
Both parties have taken active roles in voicing their needs regarding athletic use, safety and operational aspects of the center.
Like all projects concerning the interest of many parties, there have been some issues requiring discussion on multiple fronts.
Primary issues that arose early on with the project concerned visibility on the part of the Athletic Department, and security and site access on UCLA Recreation’s end.
“Athletics wants some visibility but on the other hands wants to be able to limit it for practices and things like that,” Pratt said. “Whereas Recreation was very focused on security. They didn’t want to get a call in the middle of the night that somebody is in the pool.
“Some of the kinds of requirements first might seem conflicting. But then again some of those are only solvable by design, and some are only solvable by how you operate it,” he added.
There are multiple ways to meet the needs of all parties involved, and solutions were discussed in a forum with all parties present, the architect serving as the mediator.
“The architect is supposed to become an agent for the project,” Pratt said. “To make sure the intent in the documents is carried out. In a lot of ways we’re looking at the contract (and) making sure (the contractors are) doing what they’re supposed to.”
If construction continues to move at its current pace, by the end of the year the utilities will be fully installed, the site walls up, and the beginnings of the dive tower in place.
Until then, except to the inhabitants of Hedrick Summit, the process will remain under the radar to most of campus.
Once more and more visible components of the state-of-the-art facility take physical form in the latter months of construction, the hustle and bustle of the Hill will noticeably increase.