By Annie Nesbitt ’13, News Section Editor.
This summer, construction began on the new Gordon R. Wright Tennis Complex that will eventually hold seven courts, a welcome center, and improved seating with two sets of bleachers and twelve individual benches. On Tuesday, August 28th, the Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team played their first match on the new courts. The entire complex will be completed by the beginning of the Boys’ Tennis season in the spring.
Gordon Wright ’44, a CCDS chemistry teacher from 1957-1991, was the varsity tennis coach for 24 years and won multiple state and league titles. He is credited for “starting the CCDS tennis dynasty,” said Dr. Robert, Macrae, Head of School, and is an inspiration for many Country Day tennis players. Macrae is proud of and excited about the construction. This complex is what he calls “the crown jewel” of the many improvements to the campus made this summer.
Mr. Dick Durand, who spearheaded the project and recently retired from his duty as Facilities Manager at CCDS, said “There was a lot a planning involved. [The Complex] was a project that has been talked about for a long time, but it really started getting going the first of the year [2012].”
Country Day had hoped most of the construction would be completed over the summer. “We knew we had to start the day after school let out, and we had to be finished a few weeks before school started,” said Durand. However, the construction of the courts was mostly weather-dependent– “moving dirt, laying blacktop, and painting”–so progress was delayed due to some bad weather throughout the summer. This caused the opening of the courts to be delayed until the end of August.
The construction of the tennis complex was comprised of two phases. First, the original tennis courts were demolished and replaced by new ones. Then the softball field was leveled and four new courts were constructed in its place. Dr. Macrae hopes the second phase will be completed in the late fall or early spring, before the start of the Boys’ Tennis season. This phase involves the construction of the actual Wright Tennis Complex and pavilion located between the two sections of courts.
In addition to building the complex and new courts, many other changes and additions were made to the school. “We also built a new play field for the Lower School,” Dr. Macrae pointed out. “They really didn’t have a grass play field before.” The softball field was moved to accommodate the expanding tennis area, which put a lot of pressure on the builders. “It already was a good softball field, so there was a lot of pressure to keep the same quality, especially since it’s now a bit further away from the school itself,” Dr. Macrae added. There are now improved backstops, infields, and homerun fences
for both the baseball and softball fields. The formerly muddy, unused area behind the tennis courts has now been redone to create two new youth soccer fields and a new Playscape area will be added so children can “play without adult structure” at the Lower School.
In addition to completely revamping the tennis courts and complex, renovations were made to the Lower School this summer, costing about one million dollars. Three primary changes were made: a new roof was put on, a new HVAC heating and cooling system was installed, and new windows were put into every classroom.
“The windows were drafty, there was no air conditioning other than window units, and part of the roof was over 30 years old… things were getting old, and we had to have replacements in order to maintain the facilities we wish to maintain,” said Durand.
The windows are so much improved, in fact, that a parent looking out onto the playground once thought that the playground was new because the windows were so clear. “Seven skylights were replaced… and since Durand was so thrifty with the budget, we had enough money left to do all new cubbies, buy new bulletin boards, paint almost all of the classrooms, and get some new cabinetry and doors,” said Dr. Macrae and Ashley Ward, Assistant to Dr. Macrae.
This reconstruction project will not stop here. “We’re hoping to create a new entrance to the Lower School,” said Dr. Macrae. “Right now, we’re in the design phase. We’re trying to collect all the things we could possibly have or want and then fit it into $1.5 million. We’d like the children to come into a combination of the Lower School Library and a commons area.” Fundraising for this phase of construction is underway right now, and administrators hope parents will contribute ideas for the project.
Overall, the reconstruction and additions have been well received by the CCDS community. “For a good education, I believe you need to have good facilities,” said Durand. “These were both exciting and challenging projects, but they both turned out very well and the school is better for it.”
