CREW Blue Ribbon Awards Program Book 2022

The O’Connell Athletic Center West Hartford, CT

For decades, USJ’s O’Connell Athletic Center served well as the home for Blue Jay athletic teams, community members playing pick-up basketball or walking the track, faculty and students working out in the fitness room and swimmers, from octogenarians to the West Hartford Aquatics Team Olympic Trial Finalists, faithfully swimming laps. But the transition to coeducation in 2018, the meteoric rise of the men’s basketball team, and a doubling of the number of student athletes, coaches, and trainers using the building stretched the facility beyond its limits. Renovations were desperately needed to align the quality of O’Connell to the high standard of other new buildings on campus, and significant expansion was essential to accommodate crowds and media attending athletic competitions. In just two years O&G Industries and JCJ Architects doubled the size of the O’Connell Athletic Center. They created a building that has become a focus of student athletic, recreational, and academic activities; a fund-raising tool bringing in millions of dollars of gifts for special initiatives; and a gathering place for the community and beyond – from youth participating in athletic camps, swimmers in beginner programs, to friends from the neighboring senior living complex cheering on USJ volleyball, basketball and diving teams. Teaching facilities for USJ’s new Exercise Science program and the new Beekley Center for Student Health and Wellness add to O’Connell’s holistic student experience. Sustainability features include low-voltage, digital network lighting (DNL) and an intelligent energy recovery system for heating, ventilation and cooling. Construction challenges were many. The architecture had to complement a neoclassical, Olmstead- designed campus; wetlands and poor soils presented significant constraints; and the diverse users presented a wide range of needs. With a tight budget and without disrupting classes or athletic events, completing this project was always going to be a challenge. Doing it during the pandemic was expected to be next-to- impossible. Size : 31,000 sf Project Team: O&G Industries, Inc., JCJ Architecture, BVH Integrated Services, Martin Laviero Contractors, Mega Mechanical Systems, United Steel, Scope Construction Company, Performance Plumbing and Heating, Silktown Roofing, Dalene Flooring, Roberge Painting Company, A&A Drywall and Acoustics Owner : University of St. Joseph

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