New England Faculty expands athletic amenities with a renovation of Bridges Fitness center. Plans for brand new Stebbins Middle in Manchester come with social products and services, formative years methods, healthcare, and might be named after overdue CEO Mark Stebbins.
Thu January 02, 2025 – Northeast Version
Rendering courtesy of New England Faculty
As a part of the Athletics Middle building at New England Faculty in Henniker, N.H., the addition to Bridges Fitness center will mix seamlessly with NEC’s educational structure.
New England Faculty (NEC) in Henniker, N.H., is shifting forward with the second one section of its athletic amenities growth. Beginning this spring, the personal liberal arts faculty will overhaul and renovate Bridges Fitness center, construct new places of work for the athletic division and extra amplify the power lab.
Section one of the most undertaking, finished ultimate summer season, featured a resurfaced Turf Box and kit upgrades for the Power Lab. Those upgrades set the level for the formidable traits now beneath method.
In keeping with a Dec. 29 Cohesion Track file, the school’s upcoming undertaking is a good greater enterprise that objectives to lift the standard of campus existence and athletics for NEC’s scholars, 46 % of whom are varsity Department III athletes and an extra 4 % who take part in membership sports activities.
“That is greater than a building undertaking — it is a daring step ahead,” stated Wayne F. Lesperance Jr., the president of NEC. “The Athletics Middle exemplifies NEC’s leading edge spirit and dedication to pupil luck, whether or not at the box, in the school room or past. This facility will energize our campus and lift the enjoy of each and every NEC pupil.”
The following section of the Athletics Middle reimagines Bridges Fitness center with a full-scale renovation, adopted via a groundbreaking in spring 2025 for a brand new addition. As a part of the Athletics Middle building, the addition to the health club will mix seamlessly with NEC’s educational structure.
The growth used to be designed via Stone River Architects and might be constructed via Harvey Building, either one of that are situated in Bedford, N.H.
The design comprises trendy places of work for coaches, a gym for all scholars and college, locker rooms, power coaching spaces and sports activities drugs rooms.
“As an alumnus and longtime board member, I have noticed NEC embody exchange and innovation to profit its scholars. The Athletics Middle is a huge jump ahead, and I am extremely joyful to peer its have an effect on on campus existence and pupil fulfillment,” stated Lex Scourby, alumni, and chair of the small faculty’s Board of Trustees, in a press free up from the school.
Manchester Board Proven Plans for New Stebbins Middle
Officers with the nonprofit in the back of the efforts to construct the Mark Stebbins Group Middle (MSCC) at the west facet of Manchester, N.H., went earlier than town’s Making plans Board Jan. 2 searching for acclaim for a proposed building and web page plan for the undertaking.
The 501(c)3 nonprofit is proposing to build an roughly 19,800-sq.-ft. multipurpose social products and services middle, a two-story group middle and corresponding playground, and a carpark.
All of the web page is inside a rent space at the Kelley Falls rental complicated assets at 315 Kimball St. owned via the Manchester Housing & Redevelopment Authority (MHRA), in step with the New Hampshire Union-Chief in a broadcast file simply earlier than Christmas.
As soon as built, the development might be house to a number of nonprofit organizations that may supply more than one collaborative products and services beneath one roof.
The 2-story social products and services middle is slated to incorporate 13,124 sq. feet. of house devoted to formative years and kid products and services, a group middle occupying roughly 1,600 sq. feet. that may be offering group assets, assembly house, and a meals pantry; and a 5,120-sq.-ft. outpatient well being care practitioners place of job.
Closing Would possibly, the New Hampshire Government Council licensed $1 million in investment to lend a hand duvet prices related to the group middle’s building, expected to start out this spring.
Within the making plans phases for years, the brand new facility might be named for Mark Stebbins, a Manchester local and CEO of Hookset-based PROCON, New Hampshire’s biggest architectural building company, who died in June 2021 at age 67.
After a number of months of reviewing choices and exploring conceivable websites, the MSCC Board of Administrators and the Board of Commissioners for the MHRA, introduced in overdue December that the 2 entities had signed a 75-year rent to construct and perform the brand new facility on the Kelley Falls housing group, a 132-unit, low-income housing rental complicated on Kimball Side road.
Some or all flats within the Kelley Falls complicated are rent-subsidized, this means that lease is income-based, the Union Chief famous.
MHRA owns the land and has agreed to rent it to the Mark Stebbins Group Middle for what organizers have termed a “nominal quantity,” and the MSCC will then carry the price range had to construct the undertaking.
Organizers instructed the Manchester information supply that the native Boys & Ladies Membership and Amoskeag Well being will supply products and services for formative years and households at the West Aspect via the brand new middle. Amongst them might be reasonably priced and walkable kid care, after-school care, get right of entry to to reasonably priced healthcare, group assembly house and extra enhance products and services.
As well as, the undertaking will come with a 73-vehicle parking space, bus drop-off for the Boys and Ladies Membership, van drop-off and pick-up for Amoskeag Well being, and connections to the present sidewalk community inside the Kelley Falls rental complicated. Different facilities come with a group lawn and outside play areas for the Boys & Ladies Membership.
The primary flooring of the development will function a group middle with a meals pantry, a useful resource middle and assembly areas.
The two.5-acre rent space is inside a now vacant portion of the bigger, 19.6-acre assets on Kimball Side road. Lately there are 19 multi-family rental constructions at the web page.
In January 2023, the board of administrators of the MSCC stated its participants voted unanimously following “a number of weeks of assessment, box analysis and measurements” to hunt a brand new location for the proposed group middle moderately than continue at a proposed web page on Parkside Street and Blucher Side road, close to Gossler Park Fundamental College and Parkside Heart College.
Group middle leaders had promised that an present group meals lawn and open inexperienced house would stay part of the undertaking if it moved ahead. A assessment of the land made up our minds house to be inadequate, with out both scaling again the undertaking or impacting the realm’s present use.
