New Trier’s recently passed referendum is making renovations to the 115 year old East campus including a new Fine Arts building, 25 new classrooms, a new library and a new cafeteria.

What is not included is anything regarding the New Trier Athletic Department.

The 2010 proposal included a new gym, field house and other fitness facilities, but those upgrades are not included in this year’s referendum.

“Those decisions are the responsibility of the Board of Education. They do get a lot of input from school administration and the community,” New Trier Athletic Director Randy Oberembt said.

Oberembt went on to explain that the referendum that did not pass a few years ago included a new field house and gym, but the cost and scope of the project was too much to convince voters to pass it.

In order to address different athletic needs, “the school district created a Master Athletic Facilities Planning Committee. The job of that committee would be to identify and prioritize the needs of different athletic facilities,” Oberembt said. “Certainly [the] Gates Gym, a field house, 400 meter track are all gonna be somewhere on that list.”

Gates Gym was built in 1928 and besides the upkeep of the wood floor, there have not been many renovations to the 88 year old building. Oberembt explained that one possible reason for this is to preserve the gym’s history.

“We need to find a balance between the desire to keep those memories and that place alive, which are very important to the community, against the improvement for future generations,” Oberembt said.

The field house, also presents some challenges to the Track-and-Field teams. The indoor track is only about 130 meters long, significantly shorter than the typical 200 meters.

And, with over 180 athletes on the boys and girls teams, space becomes a serious problem.

The coaches have recognized these challenges to their athletes. Boys Track-and-Field Coach Mark Wukas said, “Given that we share the field house with the girls track team, it is challenging to hold practice there. Through give and take and compromise we can fit all of our athletes into that sardine can.”

A new field house could solve some of these problems. “We have the oldest facility [In the CSL conference]. New Trier must plan to build a field house on the North athletic fields. It would help every sport and provide a recreation facility for the community. Total win-win,” said Wukas.

The Fly Solo room, the schools main weight-lifting room, also presents a challenge for students space-wise.

Junior Daniel McNerney, a former football player, said “at the end of each work out in the Fly Solo room we’d do core workouts and sometimes it was so cramped in there that there wasn’t enough space for everyone to do it.”

The tennis courts at the Winnetka campus are also not up to par for New Trier’s tennis players. Senior Scott Bickel said, “The tennis courts at the East Campus are pretty pathetic… They don’t even have doubles alleys on a few of the courts.”

In Bickel’s opinion, the bad condition of the courts affects more than just the tennis players. “We need to get some real, legitimate courts that are with in walking distance of the school. They’re killing our fan base too, because nobody wants to drive to courts off campus.”

A brand new field house, Gates Gym renovation, and new tennis courts would be an expensive project. However, Oberembt justified that cost.
“In the long run there is a cost benefit to a new facility in terms of utilities, maintenance, and safety.”