Navy athletics enjoying new $16.5M complex

Walking through the Naval Academy's $16.5 million Brigade Sports Complex - with its sparkling halls and fresh paint - academy Assistant Athletic Director Jon Brianas said it hasn't taken long for midshipmen to start using the new facility on Greenbury Point.

At one point in the tour, Mr. Brianas compared the new rink to the old one across the Severn River on the academy's Yard, where the ice was too small to meet NCAA regulations, and fans had to watch games while peering over a balcony railing.

"Dahlgren Hall had a lot of character, but it had some limitations ice-rink wise," said Mr. Brianas, a member of the Class of 2000 who played lacrosse at the academy.

He said the new ice rink has bleachers on one side that provide seating for about 500 people "with room to expand to seating for about 3,500."

The facility opened for limited use in September.

Everything about the 170,000-square-foot Brigade Sports Complex looked and smelled new, but the hockey team's locker room has definitely been getting some use. Mr. Brianas laughed and said the automatic electronic air freshener needed adjusting.

Some area high schools also are using the ice facility, and Mr. Brianas said he expects the new rink to be open for public skating, possibly on Saturdays and Sundays in late 2008.

But first the academy needs to purchase new rental skates and hire some staff to tend to the facility, Mr. Brianas.

Academy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said the main purpose of the new facility will always be to serve the 4,400-member Brigade of Midshipmen, and not just varsity teams and community groups.

"It is a club-sport based facility," Mr. Gladchuk said. "It will be prioritized for midshipmen, then faculty and staff, and for active military after that."

Still, having a modern sports complex may help some club teams rise to the varsity level.

The new complex includes a training room with whirlpool, and a fitness center that contains dozens of weight stands, treadmills and elliptical trainers. The various locker rooms have more than 700 oak-faced lockers, Mr. Brianas said, for use by home and visiting athletes.

The academy's golf, tennis, hockey and rugby teams will call the complex home.

The men's tennis team plays at the varsity level, but the women's tennis team competes only at the club level. Mr. Brianas said the women's team may move up to the varsity level.

The men's hockey team also plays at the club level, but academy officials have long hoped to upgrade hockey to a varsity sport, as soon as the academy could build a rink that meets NCAA standards.

There wasn't room on the Yard to build the new complex and regulation-size rink, academy officials said.

The facility is located next to the Naval Academy Golf Course on Greenbury Point, and in the next few months the pro shop will move into the complex from its current site, next to the Naval Academy Primary School. The new golf facility has an indoor driving range, a putting green and a sand trap.

Two features in the two-story complex are incomplete.

On the ground floor, the 19th Hole, a restaurant to serve the Naval Academy Golf Course, is being constructed. It will have a patio looking over the course.

And upstairs, overlooking the ice rink and tennis courts, there will be a coffee shop.

A separate $2 million rugby complex, also being paid for with private funds, will be built next to the Brigade Sports Complex.

All of the $16.5 million center was paid for by private donations, according to the Naval Academy Foundation, which raises money to promote the academy.

Skid Heyworth, spokesman for the Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation, said the new complex has been six years in the planning.

At least 10 parts of the facility, including a scoreboard, are named to honor donors and their families.

The facility itself is named in memory of Thornton D. Hooper and his wife Elizabeth S. Hooper - their son, Ralph W. Hooper, Naval Academy Class of 1951, was a major donor and fundraiser. Also, the McMullen Hockey Arena is named for the late Dr. John McMullen, Class of 1940, and his wife Jacquie. The Tose Family Tennis Center is named for Maurice Tose, Class of 1978, and his wife Teri Tose.