Skip to Navigation
University of Pittsburgh
Print This Page Print this pages

July 7, 2016

Facilities projects, leases approved

Three fields at the Trees Field Complex will get new synthetic turf and one — sized for NCAA soccer and lacrosse — will be covered by a bubble to permit year-round play as part of a $13.27 million project that aims to meet student demand for playing space.

The Board of Trustees property and facilities committee approved the project at a June 23 meeting in which it also authorized a $4.5 million renovation on the fifth floor of Scaife Hall to modernize medical school office spaces and consolidate student-service-related administrative departments.

The committee also approved a new home in the Heiber Building for the Radiation Safety Office and lease extensions for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), the School of Medicine’s departments of otolaryngology and ophthalmology, and the Research Conduct and Compliance Office.

Trees Field Complex project

According to committee background documents, rising freshman enrollment and increased diversity in sporting clubs have left existing sport facilities insufficient to meet demand. The facilities operate nearly 20 hours a day, leaving little time for maintenance.

Intramurals has been forced to limit the number of football and soccer teams it can accommodate, and in spring term “the need for indoor space in the Cost Sports Center by Athletics, intramurals and sport clubs creates a demand for space that cannot be filled,” the background documents stated.

The project will create:

• A 75-by-120-yard synthetic surface field sized for NCAA soccer and lacrosse. The field will be encompassed by a permanent 250-by-400-foot air structure to permit field use regardless of weather conditions.

• A 50-by-70-yard synthetic surface field for practices and intramural play.

• A new synthetic surface on the existing synthetic turf intramural sports field.

In addition to the field upgrades, the project includes lighting, a new perimeter fence with a security kiosk at the entrance; a new maintenance/storage building and renovation of the grounds building to provide additional restroom facilities.

The project is being paid for with Student Affairs funds.

****

Scaife Hall renovations

Renovations on the fifth floor of Scaife Hall will bring together the medical school’s admissions and financial aid, student affairs, faculty affairs, medical education and vice dean’s offices, which now are spread across the third and fifth floors.

A new admissions suite will feature a reception area, conference rooms and interview rooms.

The project is being funded through Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences reserves.

****

Leases approved:

• A five-year lease renewal for 15,223 square feet of office space and an additional 7,977 square feet in the Heiber Building, 3500 Fifth Avenue, for the Research Conduct and Compliance Office. The additional space will accommodate the Radiation Safety Office and a classroom.

The Radiation Safety Office’s current space on the ground floor of Parran Hall will be converted to student programming space, according to trustees background documents.

The Research Conduct and Compliance Office initially rented 6,988 square feet of space in the Heiber Building in 2000; its current lease of 15,223 square feet began in 2013. Under the new lease, the annual rent will be $603,200 through the five-year term, which begins next Jan. 1.

• A five-year lease extension for UPCI’s subleased research space at the Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI).

Pitt first leased space in MWRI’s 204 Craft Avenue building in 2011. The sublease extension covers 12,561 square feet of space on the building’s fourth floor. The five-year term begins Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2021. The initial annual rental is $775,418 with a 1 percent annual increase each Oct. 1.

• A five-year lease renewal for the School of Medicine otolaryngology and ophthalmology departments’ research, clinical and office space in the Eye and Ear Institute.

The University initially leased the 35,526 square feet of space at 203 Lothrop Street in 2006 and renewed the lease in 2011. The lease renewal begins with an annual rent of $1,222,056 and includes a 1 percent annual increase.

—Kimberly K. Barlow 


Leave a Reply