WATERVILLE, Maine — As part of its commitment to provide all students with the opportunity to lead active and healthy lifestyles, Colby College opened its new Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center.
The 350,000-square-foot building is said to be the most advanced and comprehensive NCAA D-III facility in the country and one of a series of investments by the college to create and support best-in-class programs and initiatives.
Support from the Harold Alfond Foundation, a longtime contributor to Colby College helped to make the new center a possibility.
The Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center offers an aquatics center with the only Olympic-size Myrtha pool in Maine. The center also has an ice arena with year-round regulation ice; the Margaret M. Crook Center with three regulation-length basketball/volleyball courts; and an open-air O’Neil Atrium.
A three-level Boulous Family Fitness Center offers a mix of free weights, cables, selectorize and cardio equipment, open areas for stretching and training and dedicated fitness studios and a mindfulness and meditation room.
The indoor competition center (track/field house) offers a six-lane track, regulation tennis courts, and field-event accommodations for pole vault, high jump, long/triple jump and shot put.
A squash center features nine championship regulation courts.
A 42-foot tall climbing and bouldering wall features terrain ranging from easy vertical to more difficult articulated areas and a dedicated athletic trainer’s suite features hydrotherapy pools, exam rooms and a triage room.
The facility is also tracking toward a LEED Gold Certification and was constructed to support Colby’s position as one of the leading sustainable campuses in the U.S. and one of only four educational institutions to have achieved carbon neutrality. Sustainability components include optimizing natural resources through daylight harvesting, minimizing embodied carbon, reducing energy and water use as well as carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
The new center highlights Colby’s commitment to driving the economic resurgence of Waterville and Central Maine, and eventually more teams and events will be invited to the campus from NESCAC to international competitions.
Construction of the $200 million Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center, which broke ground in October 2017, was completed on time.
