Higher Education case study

Wheeling Jesuit University Athletic Field

Athletic Field | Design Build

the goals

Deliver an all-weather athletic field to serve the diverse needs of college athletics and community users

Project Background

More than half of the 1,500 students at Wheeling Jesuit University (WJU) participate in collegiate athletics, and WJU was ready to make major improvements to its athletic field and ancillary facilities to better serve college athletes, intramural sports and the surrounding community.

"Our University was planning to install our first artificial turf field. And, once announced, we received numerous, unrealistic, proposals. Momentum brought a process that defined our parameters and developed a comprehensive model for cost-effective construction delivery. Ultimately, we had a superior, multi-use, field, delivered on time, with features that saved us money; we also had a plan for expansion. Momentum coordinated that process!” - Don Kaminski, Associate Vice President for Administration

A Quality Field for Top Athletes: Plan. Design. Build.

In planning for the new field, Momentum had to consider the unique pitch size and surface impact requirements to support WJU’s thriving rugby program along with those for soccer, field hockey and lacrosse. The field would need to serve as the home playing field for a local high school and designed with a future college football program in mind.

Because the existing field could not be decommissioned until graduation, only three months were available for earth moving and installation. Momentum delivered a new all-weather playing field and developed a multi-phase master plan for a new all-weather track, relocation of field sports activities, bleacher expansion, new field lights, and the construction of new training facilities, to be implemented as funding becomes available.

Momentum Moment

Early on, Momentum worked with a soils engineer to assess whether subsurface conditions could properly support the required field drainage systems, uncovering some issues to address.

The team designed and installed a unique subsurface collection and distribution system — at considerably less expense than a fully piped system, allowing the project to remain within planned contingency costs.