Is the growth of practice fields good for MSD?

[WinkinDeac]

Wasn't sure whether to post here or on sports boards, but I haven't seen this op-ed posted so I figured I go ahead and see what y'all think. Standard Haas pre-apologies apply.

http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/c...cle_2a68c6ec-26f3-11e4-9489-0017a43b2370.html

Takes him a while to get to the point, but ultimately he arrives at this:

The campus has slowly encroached upon the trail, but now it is about to nearly encompass it. And for what purpose? Because the beautiful game of college football has become a beast that is eating everything in its path. Wake Forest is building an indoor practice field so it can keep up with the rest of the ACC. Ask the University of North Carolina how that has worked out in Chapel Hill.
College sports demands more and more arms for its war. The trail will be merely a battlefield casualty.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

had no idea that trail existed

 

[smallbigtall]

Behind Palmer/Piccolo, right? I suspect they had to cut out some of the trail when they built The Barn, too.

 

[cookoutdeac]

Meh, still plenty of other good places to run on and around campus.

And you can be successful without compromising everything like UNC has, that's just a lazy connection.

 

[lbE08]

I knew it existed because I lived in Piccolo - it's really pretty.
It is unfortunate that it'll be disrupted, but I feel like similar articles can be written pretty much any time there is growth.

 

[Deacfreak07]

I knew it existed because I lived in Piccolo - it's really pretty.
It is unfortunate that it'll be disrupted, but I feel like similar articles can be written pretty much any time there is growth.

Yea. I enjoy those trails, but they were really under utilized. There are still plenty of decent trails around Reynolda anyway.

 

[wakephan09]

Behind Palmer/Piccolo, right? I suspect they had to cut out some of the trail when they built The Barn, too.

Not much, to be honest. Just re-routed "Deacon," the long hill in the middle.

Meh, still plenty of other good places to run on and around campus.

LAME, cookout, super lame. Just because we have other beautiful places to run -- like the Gardens, for instance -- does not mean that we should destroy a really great campus resource.

Yea. I enjoy those trails, but they were really under utilized. There are still plenty of decent trails around Reynolda anyway.

I ran on those trails nearly every day for four years. Both the track and cross country teams workout on them a couple of times a week (they are our equivalent to a practice facility), and other varsity sports frequently utilize them for training as well. They are also the home course for Wake cross country, and we've hosted ACCs at least twice in the last twenty years. There are also several local 5ks that utilize the course during the course of every year.

 

[Deacfreak07]

Not much, to be honest. Just re-routed "Deacon," the long hill in the middle.



LAME, cookout, super lame. Just because we have other beautiful places to run -- like the Gardens, for instance -- does not mean that we should destroy a really great campus resource.



I ran on those trails nearly every day for four years. Both the track and cross country teams workout on them a couple of times a week (they are our equivalent to a practice facility), and other varsity sports frequently utilize them for training as well. They are also the home course for Wake cross country, and we've hosted ACCs at least twice in the last twenty years. There are also several local 5ks that utilize the course during the course of every year.

Are you suggesting they get used more than an indoor practice facility will? Keep in mind that football, soccer, and likely field hockey will use the new facility.

 

[wakephan09]

Are you suggesting they get used more than an indoor practice facility will? Keep in mind that football, soccer, and likely field hockey will use the new facility.

Yes, absolutely. Because the trails are also a resource for the entire student body.

I doubt that Field Hockey and soccer will make much use of it -- they each have some of the best facilities in the country at their disposal (and NC weather doesn't warrant it). If we take Carolina's indoor facility as an example, it is almost exclusively used by football in the fall (especially when the field turf is rolled out over the indoor track). You surely know more about the planned facility than I do, so I'd be curious to hear your perspective.

 

[Deacfreak07]

Yes, absolutely. Because the trails are also a resource for the entire student body.

I doubt that Field Hockey and soccer will make much use of it -- they each have some of the best facilities in the country at their disposal (and NC weather doesn't warrant it). If we take Carolina's indoor facility as an example, it is almost exclusively used by football in the fall (especially when the field turf is rolled out over the indoor track). You surely know more about the planned facility than I do, so I'd be curious to hear your perspective.

The current soccer practice field has terrible drainage issues. That's their next capital project now that the wall is finished. I know they use the field turf football practice field a lot for spring practices. I really like the trails a lot, and I would love to keep them. Unfortunately with our campus being landlocked as it is, they were always going to be expendable. It's just the nature of the beast. I do know that the campus master planning I've seen does prioritize green space.

 

[wakephan09]

That is quite a shame. Those trails are one of my very favorite things about our beautiful campus.

 

[cookoutdeac]

That is quite a shame. Those trails are one of my very favorite things about our beautiful campus.

It's kinda like how the new tennis center took away real student tailgating, which was sad, but now we're pulling in #1 tennis recruits as a result of that investment.

Except for in this case there are still other pretty places to run, including the campus itself.

 

[wakephan09]

I think you all are misunderstanding me. You two, more than anyone, should know that I will always want what is best for Wake Forest. I never suggested that the building of an indoor practice facility that might destroy some of my precious trails was a bad idea; nor did I ever suggest that it should not be done.

I merely refuted DeacFreak's claim that they were under-utilized -- which is certainly false -- and pushed back against Cookout's suggestion that just because there are other beautiful places to run, we should not feel badly about razing what I believe is a special and unique part of Wake Forest.

 

[wakephan09]

And there are plenty of reasons people love these trails beyond the fact that they are 'pretty' -- they are the only place on campus where you can do 1000 meter hill intervals on soft terrain; they are the only place on campus where we can hold a cross country race; they are the only place on campus to go on a solitary run, to 'get away' from campus; they are the only place on campus where the ROTC can do their military simulation exercises; they are the only place on campus where the environmental scientists can run labs and long-term experiments; they are the only place on campus to practice shot-put, javelin, and hammer; they are the only place on campus to provide a warm-up area for the large invitation track meets that Wake hosts every year. And you know what? They are pretty too.

Those are just off of the top of my head.

I am thrilled that Wake has the opportunity to build an indoor practice facility, and I am all for it. I'm just sad that additional construction on campus has to come at the expense of something so uniquely Wake Forest.

 

[Deacfreak07]

And there are plenty of reasons people love these trails beyond the fact that they are 'pretty' -- they are the only place on campus where you can do 1000 meter hill intervals on soft terrain; they are the only place on campus where we can hold a cross country race; they are the only place on campus to go on a solitary run, to 'get away' from campus; they are the only place on campus where the ROTC can do their military simulation exercises; they are the only place on campus where the environmental scientists can run labs and long-term experiments; they are the only place on campus to practice shot-put, javelin, and hammer; they are the only place on campus to provide a warm-up area for the large invitation track meets that Wake hosts every year. And you know what? They are pretty too.

Those are just off of the top of my head.

I am thrilled that Wake has the opportunity to build an indoor practice facility, and I am all for it. I'm just sad that additional construction on campus has to come at the expense of something so uniquely Wake Forest.

I understand that. I don't this this is encroaching on the throws area to that point though.

 

[DeaconCav06]

I had no clue the trail existed.

 

[cookoutdeac]

Does anyone have that picture/mspaint of where the indoor facility was going on the overhead/google maps shot? or remember what thread it was on? Is this thing taking away all of the trail? or just a portion of it?

 

[bmoneydeac]

Are they turning the intramural field between Babcock and Palmer/Pic into parking or something? I drove by it the other day and it looked like it was in the process of being paved.

 

[cookoutdeac]

Are they turning the intramural field between Babcock and Palmer/Pic into parking or something? I drove by it the other day and it looked like it was in the process of being paved.

Wat? Are you talking about the watertower fields?

 

[cookoutdeac]

Also, wow, is this article just crying wolf or what? It doesn't even look like the practice center will change much, if anything at all, with the current cross country trails back there. At worst they'll have to reroute one small corner of it:

That's tsy's guess at where the center will go from an aerial perspective, and seems to be a pretty good one based on our renderings given thus far: