Not Just a Gym
Besides having the usual pump and dunk facilities, the new John W. Berry Sports Center has a dance studio and classrooms.
You don't have to be a fitness nut to like the new Berry Sports Center. This is an Eighties-style exercise emporium: coed, clean and computerized. Voyeurs and narcissists love the state-of-the-art fitness room. The walls are lined with mirrors so peoplewatchers can gawk without guilt as lycra-clad bodies work Nautilus machines to the strains of pulsating rock music. In the room next door, a fitness lab allows athletes to calibrate their gains. The building even has a dance studio.
Traditional jocks, however, won't feel out of place in Berry. This is a place where someone can work up a good old-fashioned sweat. For instance, half of the fitness center is devoted to free-weights. The building also houses a 13-court squash and racquetball center that features the only squash court in North America with three glass walls. Berry's showcase is Edward Leede Arena, home court for Dartmouth's intercollegiate basketball teams. By day, the arena sports two regulation-sized courts, but at game time, it will seat 2,100 fans. Although the seating capacity of the new arena is a fraction smaller than Alumni Gym's, the space is much more versatile. The arena is designed to accommodate large lectures and rock concerts.
Berry's May dedication kicked off a series of special celebrations that will include an alumni squash match and an exhibition match by two of the world's top-ranked professional players. (Both matches are scheduled for November 21. Interested alumni athletes should contact Aggie Kurtz at 603/ 646-3228.) In addition, Berry has already been booked for major events such as the 1988 Women's Squash Championship and the Junior National Squash Championship.
Some bugs-must still be worked out of the new building. While the fitness lab and basketball courts have seen heavy use and won rave reviews, the dance studio, racquetball courts and squash facilities courts have not yet been broken in. Rather, they have been broken up. Immediately following the dedication, the second story's wooden floorboards began warping and the entire area was closed to the public. Crews worked throughout the summer and into September correcting the defect which was attributed to excessive moisture in the sub-floor.
Hoopsters' delight: The Leede Arena is the Big Green's home court
Row, row, row: Richard Jaeger '59, director of admissions, works out on the ergometer. Ergometer is the high-tech name for a rowing machine.
Just for the record: The 68,000 square foot Berry Sports Center measures 191' 3 %" by 235' 11 -Vs" deep by 35' 8". Before anyone tries to calculate the volume, we should add that the architects tried to avoid the typical "windowless box" style of gym. Their embellishments include the dance studio's bay window, pictured above, and a vaulted center gallery.
