UA, Barchi agree on basketball court plan

The plan calls for one basketball court to be built atop the parking garage at 38th and Spruce streets. After months of one-on-one discussions with the Undergraduate Assembly, Provost Robert Barchi announced yesterday that the two sides have reached an agreement to build one outdoor basketball court on top of the parking garage at 38th and Spruce streets by early this fall. "We have made enough progress to get construction underway for this summer," Barchi said. "We think we can practically make it happen." Construction of the court will begin late this summer and will cost between $80,000 and $100,000. The UA will fund about $30,000 of the total cost from its budget and a fundraising campaign it will hold next fall, with the provost kicking in the rest of the money out of University funds. The project marks a crowning achievement for this year's UA, which has been working with the administration to build outdoor courts since last summer. "The entire Penn community plays basketball -- undergraduate and graduate students and faculty can be found at Hutchinson and Gimbel every day," said newly-elected University Council representative Jonathan Glick, a Wharton junior who was chairman of the UA's Facilities Committee last year. "Given that there are not a lot of outdoor recreational options, by building the basketball courts we can create another opportunity for the Penn community," he said. A rooftop basketball court was first proposed last summer, and Glick and UA Chairman Michael Silver began working to put together a formal proposal last fall. "We looked into cost issues, security issues as well as the overall feasibility of the project," Glick said. "It's been a very complex project." The UA collected over 1,100 signatures last fall from students who supported the project. They also provided documented evidence showing the facilities in Hutchinson Gymnasium were overcrowded, and in November, voted to officially propose the project to the administration. After meeting several times with Barchi, they won the administration's approval. "The UA did a terrific job demonstrating wide student interest and identifying the need," Barchi said. "We were convinced that Penn needed to do this by the evidence the UA brought to us." But questions remained over where to build the facility and how to pay for it. The original proposal called for two rooftop basketball courts to be built on top of either the parking garage or Mayer Hall, but cost concerns scaled the project down to just one. "We initially hoped to have two courts, but realistically, we knew we would probably get one," said Glick, noting that the UA will likely push for another court again next fall. In January, the UA began working with the University's fundraising office to identify sources of funding, and raised $500 for the project from a fundraiser at a Penn basketball game. And with another $10,000 from its own budget and an additional $20,000 from the Development office, the group convinced Barchi it was far enough along to go ahead with the plan. Barchi said the timing was right for the project, which fulfills longstanding University recreational needs, and the centrally located site was ideal.

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