University’s New West Campus Sports Field Opens

Published on: 2011/09/21 - in Releases

Athletes took to the new artificial turf field at west campus for the first time last week. The Queen’s women’s rugby team won the inaugural game on the field Saturday afternoon, edging the Brock Badgers 15-14.

“The field is beautiful,” says team member Devon Stride, a second-year Kinesiology student. “The artificial surface will help us prepare for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship that will be played on an artificial turf field at Trent University in Peterborough.”

The men’s and women’s varsity rugby teams continue their 2011 season uninterrupted thanks to the new field, while Nixon Field (formerly Kingston Field) is closed during repairs to the underground parking lot.

“The new field allows many more of our varsity athletes to play and practice on a quality surface that doesn’t degrade during the season. The facility will also help us meet the growing demand of our intramural and recreation programs,” says Leslie Dal Cin, Director, Athletics and Recreation.

The $3.1-million project was funded largely through philanthropy. In addition to other Queen’s varsity and recreation teams using the field, the Kingston community will also benefit from the addition of another artificial turf field.

“The university is greatly appreciative of the many benefactors who made this field possible. Their generosity will support thousands of students for years to come,” says Vice-Principal (Advancement) Tom Harris.

The new artificial turf field represents the first phase of the West Campus Fields and Stadium Project.

“This spectacular field is just the beginning of the transformation of west campus,” says Vicky (Gilliatt) Hand (BA and BPHE ‘73), Fields and Stadium Cabinet co-chair along with her husband Paul (BA ’69, MBA ’73). “With the potential for community use, we see west campus becoming the hub in the city for football and other field sports. We are grateful to the people who helped complete this project on time, everyone from donors to Athletics and Recreation and Physical Plant Services staff. It was truly a team effort.”

Nixon Field will be resurfaced with artificial turf once repairs to the underground parking lot are finished. Fundraising is underway for that project and the targeted completion date is September 2012.

With three artificial turf fields on campus including Tindall Field, the amount of programmable field time for university and community members will grow immediately from an estimated 900 hours per year on grass fields to 6,300 hours per year.

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Release and photo (Queen’s women’s rugby team) source: Queen’s University News Centre