By Eric Althoff
BOSTON鈥擥eneral contracting firm Gilbane Building Company has broken ground on Wentworth Institute of Technology鈥檚 new athletic field. Representatives of WIT recently joined personnel from preconstruction provider CD Smith and architect STV for an official turning over of the first shovelful of dirt, where the athletic field will exist next to a new parking structure.
This is the same project team that Gilbane utilized at WIC鈥檚 Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Sciences building, constructed in 2019. In a statement about the work, Mike O鈥橞rien, senior vice president and business unit leader for Gilbane鈥檚 offices in Massachusetts, said that his firm was pleased to be back working with WIC a second time.
鈥淚n delivering this project, we will employ the latest advances in construction, safety, sustainability and innovation,鈥� O鈥橞rien said, 鈥渨hile also providing economic opportunities for local and diverse trade partners, as well as Boston residents.鈥�
Cheryl Aaron, WIT鈥檚 director of athletics, said at the groundbreaking that the athletic field marks the next phase in the school’s development as a student athletic powerhouse.
鈥淥ur current and future student athletes will have the opportunity to practice and compete in a new facility that meets their competitive needs on a regulation turf field, with new team locker room spaces, an expanded sports medicine clinic, and other amenities that support their development,鈥� Aaron said.
The soccer and softball fields of the new field, when completed next year, will be up to NCAA standards. A future expansion will allow for several hundred additional sports spectators.
Gilbane has been in business since 1870, and continues to be a privately held, family firm. In addition to its New England business, the contractor operates in 45 total offices around the world.