Waubonsee Community College dedicates new field house

Waubonsee Community College celebrated the completion of its 2020 master plan Tuesday, at a ceremony dedicating the last item on the list: a new field house.

Hundreds of officials, students, faculty and residents of the college district toured the 59,000-square-foot field house, which features three courts and a three-lane elevated track. It is attached to Erickson Hall, parts of which were renovated at the same time.

"Today we celebrate the outstanding teamwork that brought the 2020 plan to completion," said Scott Peska, dean of students and a member of the field house project team's planning and implementation committees.

"It has been an amazing and wonderful journey for all of us these past 14 years," college President Christie Sobek said.

Sobek urged the crowd to look to the future, urging people to stop by a table where information was being sought for the college's Vision 2050 plan.

The field house is where Waubonsee athletes can practice. One of the courts has artificial turf on which the soccer teams can practice, and there are cages for softball and baseball practice. There is a new dance and fitness studio, a study hall for athletes, a strength and conditioning center, and a training room.

The college began working on its 2020 plan in the early 2000s, and got permission from voters in 2002 to borrow $67 million for the work. With the money, it opened a campus operations center, a science building, the Academic and Professional Center and a student center on the Sugar Grove campus; a 12-classroom campus in Plano; a new downtown Aurora campus; and the field house and Erickson renovation. According to college officials, these major projects cost about $129.5 million.