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Back to Facility Manager
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by Antony Bonavita The theory is simple, practice make perfect! We are taught this all of our lives and we teach it every day to our student athletes. However, this theory can be very costly when you apply it to a construction project. All too often projects become victim to poor planning and lack of vision. We see facilities being built and within a small amount of time they are undergoing some sort of renovation to correct a problem that was created in construction. We at Stony Brook are no strangers to this and have actually begun to redesign the locker room level of our new outdoor stadium after completing just our third football season in the venue. In 2002, when we opened the stadium, it was and still is a drastic improvement from the glorified high school field we had played on for years. The facility from the spectator’s point of view was beautiful and a great place to watch a game. People commended us for the design; they enjoyed the closeness to the action and thought the landscaping was eye catching. We received rave reviews about the field surface (Field Turf) and the scoreboard. This facility was much better than the community had expected for our level of football (Division IAA-non scholarship). The way the State University Construction System works had a lot to do with the ultimate outcome of the project. In a nutshell the State builds the facility and hands the campus and the department the keys when the project is completed. It is a difficult task to manage when you need to keep interjecting your opinions until you can get someone from the State to listen. In fairness to the people at the Construction Fund, they have an enormous number of facilities to construct over the course of each year. While this project was the most important thing to us, it was just another project for them. So the end result is that the administration at the time did not or was not able to get the Construction Fund to listen, so the current obstacles are the result. We had a beautiful facility that was not able to accommodate its guests with points of sale at the concessions area. We had a locker room building that could not host a visiting team. Our home football team locker room was equipped with one toilet and two urinals for 90 student athletes. So here we stand today, the paint on the walls is barely dry and we are going over architectural drawings to redesign the locker room level of our three-year-old stadium. As we sat there with the architects and engineers, it occurred to us that we needed to make sure we were incorporating all the fundamental values that we had talked about. I remember on more than one occasion, when I or someone else from our staff Monday-morning-quarterbacked our predecessors and talked about how we would have designed the stadium. Now, this was our legacy, this was our design and we needed to make sure we thought about it from all the different angles we had preached about over the course of the past year. Vision We have constantly talked about having a vision for the future when we build facilities. What impact if any will this facility, or in this case, these renovations have on the next facility we want to build? What do we see this facility being used for in the next 10 years? Do we see any NCAA championship games or concerts being hosted here? All of these possibilities play into how we design this facility. We should not be building for just what we need today, but instead what we might need in the future. End Users It is not only a good idea, but also imperative that you consult the people that are going to be using the facility as well as the personnel operating it. It is not enough to just talk with coaches and athletes; you need to dig deeper than that. Set up meetings with the custodial staff, the grounds people and security personnel. Discuss with them about what they think they need and how they would design the facility if you gave them the chance. Talk to the concession personnel about how many points of sale they would need, taking into consideration when the venue is sold out and you have a capacity crowd on hand. Poll the Fans Conduct a simple survey on your website or in a local paper asking the community to give you some input on what they would like to see in your new facility. This will certainly prove to be helpful, but more importantly it will give the community a sense of ownership. They will feel part of your process and not be so eager to complain once they start attending games and notice some of the challenges. Who am I kidding? This may not stop them from complaining, but at least it will be a good public relations tool! Don’t Try to Re-Invent the Wheel It is important to reach out to others in the business that have gone through the process and learn from their mistakes and the challenges they face. Picking up the phone or taking the time to visit similar facilities may save you from repeating mistakes that have been made in the past. In most cases, especially in smaller projects like ours, we are not building something for the first time. A similar facility has been built somewhere, and all you need to do is ask the right questions to attain answers that will help you in your process. The unfortunate conclusion remains that ultimately, it is cost that actually drives the bus and steers projects in certain directions. However, this should never be your starting point; you should be planning as if money is no object. The best thing for you to do is to try and get the most for your money and give your facility every opportunity to be successful in the future. In construction, it is not practice that makes perfect; it is planning that makes perfect. Antony Bonavita is the director of facility operations and events for the athletic department at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. He may be contacted at antony.bonavita@stonybrook.edu. |
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©
2002-2005
International Association of Assembly Managers |