Photo: Clark Jordan, Delaware State University field construction supervisor, left, and Raimond Braithwaite stand in front of the 17,000-square-foot strength and conditioning facility scheduled to be completed in September. Delaware State News/Daniel Korup
By Chris Gasiewski, Delaware State News
DSU new 17,000 s.f. strength and conditioning center on schedule for completion in September.
DOVER — When Raimond Braithwaite was hired as Delaware State University’s strength and conditioning coach two years ago, he had just a small room inside Memorial Hall to work. Only slimmed-down groups could fit in the weight room at a time.
Last year DSU enlarged the room, but it was just a quick fix before the school constructed its strength and conditioning center this year.
The 17,000-square-foot project is set to open in mid-September. It’s part of an extreme makeover of the 25-year old Memorial Hall.
The second phase of the project includes a wellness center, which is slated to open in January 2009. The entire project’s cost is $21 million.
The new strength and conditioning center connects to the existing basketball arena the north end of Memorial Hall. When walking through the front doors, fans will first encounter the ticket office with the arena to the left.
To the right is the 9,500-square-foot weight room. The all free-weight strength and conditioning room will have 18 squat racks, 18 platforms, four exercise bikes and three treadmills. It’s a stark contrast compared to what Braithwaite was working with.
“It’s the whole shebang,” Braithwaite said. “It’s like Christmas morning. The kids are getting psyched up about it too.
“(My first year) took some adjustment. Now we are upgrading. It’s been steady progress upward.”
Braithwaite, a former assistant strength coach at the University of Iowa, was included in the structure’s entire process since he came to DSU. From the blueprint stage, he was able to assist in making adjustments after being inside some of the biggest weight rooms in the country.
This advancement, he said, will put DSU up to par with the rest of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
“I’ve been to most of them,” he said of the conference’s weight rooms. “If we’re not the biggest, we are 1-B.
“They were pretty good in putting in what I wanted. They brought blueprints to me and I mixed in what I didn’t like.”
“There was an obvious need for a new strength and conditioning room,” DSU associate vice president for university operations Richard Cathcart said. “We had to build the strength and conditioning center first before the wellness center.”
When the strength and conditioning center is completed, it will serve as a solid recruiting tool for prospective athletes. It will also make hosting a game smoother.
Fans won’t have to trek around the outside of Memorial Hall, then walk back down a long hallway to get inside the arena.
“It’s going to be great,” Cathcart said. “You won’t have to go through Memorial Hall, pay, then go down the long hallway. (Right now), logistically, it’s a nightmare.
“It’s going to be a lot easier to control ticket sales and entry.”
Even with the improvements to Memorial Hall, DSU is still looking for a new arena for its basketball teams.
The Delaware Civic Center Corporation is currently seeking $16 million to cap funding for a civic center in Dover that would house the teams as well as an East Coast Hockey League team. The center would rest behind Lowe’s on U.S. 13.
Cathcart said last week that if the DCCC couldn’t find the money by the end of the year, DSU would then explore other options.
“If we could get a basketball arena, we would be in good shape then,” he said Friday.
As for Braithwaite, the new strength and conditioning center will keep DSU in good shape for the future.
“It’s putting pieces into the puzzle,” Braithwaite said. “We are finally catching up to everyone else.”
By Chris Gasiewski, Delaware State NewsDSU new 17,000 s.f. strength and conditioning center on schedule for completion in September.
DOVER — When Raimond Braithwaite was hired as Delaware State University’s strength and conditioning coach two years ago, he had just a small room inside Memorial Hall to work. Only slimmed-down groups could fit in the weight room at a time.
Last year DSU enlarged the room, but it was just a quick fix before the school constructed its strength and conditioning center this year.
The 17,000-square-foot project is set to open in mid-September. It’s part of an extreme makeover of the 25-year old Memorial Hall.
The second phase of the project includes a wellness center, which is slated to open in January 2009. The entire project’s cost is $21 million.
The new strength and conditioning center connects to the existing basketball arena the north end of Memorial Hall. When walking through the front doors, fans will first encounter the ticket office with the arena to the left.
To the right is the 9,500-square-foot weight room. The all free-weight strength and conditioning room will have 18 squat racks, 18 platforms, four exercise bikes and three treadmills. It’s a stark contrast compared to what Braithwaite was working with.
“It’s the whole shebang,” Braithwaite said. “It’s like Christmas morning. The kids are getting psyched up about it too.
“(My first year) took some adjustment. Now we are upgrading. It’s been steady progress upward.”
Braithwaite, a former assistant strength coach at the University of Iowa, was included in the structure’s entire process since he came to DSU. From the blueprint stage, he was able to assist in making adjustments after being inside some of the biggest weight rooms in the country.
This advancement, he said, will put DSU up to par with the rest of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
“I’ve been to most of them,” he said of the conference’s weight rooms. “If we’re not the biggest, we are 1-B.
“They were pretty good in putting in what I wanted. They brought blueprints to me and I mixed in what I didn’t like.”
“There was an obvious need for a new strength and conditioning room,” DSU associate vice president for university operations Richard Cathcart said. “We had to build the strength and conditioning center first before the wellness center.”
When the strength and conditioning center is completed, it will serve as a solid recruiting tool for prospective athletes. It will also make hosting a game smoother.
Fans won’t have to trek around the outside of Memorial Hall, then walk back down a long hallway to get inside the arena.
“It’s going to be great,” Cathcart said. “You won’t have to go through Memorial Hall, pay, then go down the long hallway. (Right now), logistically, it’s a nightmare.
“It’s going to be a lot easier to control ticket sales and entry.”
Even with the improvements to Memorial Hall, DSU is still looking for a new arena for its basketball teams.
The Delaware Civic Center Corporation is currently seeking $16 million to cap funding for a civic center in Dover that would house the teams as well as an East Coast Hockey League team. The center would rest behind Lowe’s on U.S. 13.
Cathcart said last week that if the DCCC couldn’t find the money by the end of the year, DSU would then explore other options.
“If we could get a basketball arena, we would be in good shape then,” he said Friday.
As for Braithwaite, the new strength and conditioning center will keep DSU in good shape for the future.
“It’s putting pieces into the puzzle,” Braithwaite said. “We are finally catching up to everyone else.”
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