The Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse will be home to Hope athletic contests, academic departments and community events. The groundbreaking ceremony for the $22 million facility is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the fieldhouse construction site off Fairbanks Avenue on campus.
Construction already has begun with completion scheduled in time for the 2005-06 school year.
The 102,000 sf fieldhouse will house the college's department of kinesiology as well as the schools' athletic training program. It will serve as home court for the college's volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams. Designed to seat approximately 3,400 fans, it also will serve as a venue for other college and community events.
DeVos Fieldhouse offers tremendous opportunities for both Hope College and the community of Holland, according to Hope President James Bultman. “The vision for the project is to create a building within a park, a thoughtfully planned and carefully executed marriage of building and site,” he said. “Essentially, the building is a stage or a backdrop for some very important college and community events.”
It's part of an evolving eastern gateway entrance to the Holland community. Arches and pillars that demonstrate strength and sophistication are featured in the design and blend with the existing campus.
DeVos Fieldhouse will be built on property bounded by Fairbanks Avenue to the east, Lincoln Avenue to the west, Ninth Street to the north and 11th Street to the south. Recent property acquisitions have increased the campus size nearly 40 percent, from 55 to 77 acres.
Hope has played its basketball games at the city-owned Holland Civic Center since the mid-1950s. “We have not had our own college-owned facility for spectator basketball for more than 70 years,” said Hope spokesman Tom Renner.
Steve Hotujac, principal with architectural firm Ellerbe Becket, remembers touring President Bultman through another of the firm's projects, Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The home of the NBA Indiana Pacers is considered the gem among the new arenas that have opened in recent years. The facility is designed to evoke memories of the state's great high school and collegiate fieldhouses while delivering all the amenities of a modern NBA arena.
“That's what's so delightful about working on DeVos Fieldhouse,” said Hotujac. “We can take all this great knowledge we've accumulated from designing nearly 20 NBA/NHL arenas and apply it in an intimate setting. This will be one of the best buildings of its type in the world.”
Ellerbe Becket is providing architecture, interior design, mechanical, electrical and structural engineering and landscape architecture. Progressive AE of Grand Rapids, Mich., also is providing architectural and engineering services. Construction Manager is the Dan Vos Construction Co. of Ada, Mich.
The fieldhouse is part of the most ambitious capital campaign in Hope's 142-year history. The college opened its new science center in 2003 and work on the renovation of the current Peale Science Center will be complete for the 2004-05 school year. Later this spring, ground will be broken for the new Martha Miller Center for Global Communication.
Named for Richard and Helen DeVos, the new fieldhouse honors the couple's impact on the quality of life in western Michigan, the Holland community and at Hope College. The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation contributed a $7.5 million anchor gift to the project.
An innovator since its founding in 1909, Ellerbe Becket is a leader in architecture, engineering and the construction industry with office locations worldwide.
Contact: news@ellerbebecket.com
