Athletic Practice Facility Site Evaluation Committee Final Report

The Athletic Practice Facility Site Evaluation Committee (APFSEC) was established in January 2012 to help Virginia Tech resolve a controversy surrounding the proposal to build a 2.1 acre indoor athletic practice facility in part of a designated Environmental Greenway known as Stadium Woods. After four months of data gathering and biweekly meetings, the Committee recognized that its siting decision was a matter not simply about whether or not to build in the woods, but also about the design of the campus built environment, disruption and mitigation of existing and prospective campus facilities and uses, and accommodating the development of the athletic facility at a suitable location and a workable cost. The demonstrated social importance of Stadium Woods became the determining factor in the Committee’s deliberations and the consensus report.

This summary and recommendations introduces the issue, describes the Committee’s process, discusses the site evaluation, and offers five recommendations:

1. Designate Stadium Woods as a Reserve and develop a protection, management, and use planfor the Woods.
2. Relocate the proposed facility site from the Woods site to the Washington Street tennis court site and develop a site orientation and design that considers cost, aesthetics, mitigation of existing uses, and minimal impact on the Woods.
3. Commence construction of replacement tennis courts and roller hockey rink displaced by the Washington St. site before the existing facilities are closed.
4. Allocate incremental costs associated with the site relocation, which are a measure of the preservation value of the Woods, to funding sources other than Athletics and Recreational Sports.
5. Review procedures for assessing variance with the Master Plan to safeguard against future controversies of this type.