ORONO, Maine — The late Harold Alfond and the Harold Alfond Foundation have been instrumental in funding the construction and renovations of pivotal athletic facilities at the University of Maine.
The university is showing its appreciation by building something in honor of the Alfonds and their generosity.
UMaine this summer plans to complete Alfond Way, a paved, lighted walking and bicycle path that will connect most of UMaine’s athletic facilities with other buildings on the north end of the Orono campus.
“The essence of it is that it’s tying all our sports venues together,” said Will Biberstein, UMaine’s associate athletic director for internal operations, who referred to the way as “the east-west highway of the north end of campus.”
“It really is the conduit that is going to link the first-year students up at Hilltop [Complex] right down to the student entrance at Alfond Arena,” he added.
The project, the first phase of which was completed in 2011, carries a cost of approximately $370,000. Biberstein said the sidewalk is being funded mostly through a Maine Department of Transportation grant and some matching campus facilities deferred maintenance funds.
Alfond Way begins outside Alfond Arena, home of UMaine ice hockey and basketball, and goes across the parking lot to the sidewalk behind the main grandstand at Alfond Stadium, the Black Bears’ football and track facility.
The 10-foot-wide asphalt surface will wind around the stadium, past the main entrance and along the black-iron fence that borders the south end of the facility. It will take users past the new Mitchell Batting Pavilion, which is under construction, and Mahaney Clubhouse at Mahaney Diamond, UMaine’s baseball field.
It then will connect with the already completed portion of the walk that runs from the main entrance to Mahaney Diamond past the softball complex at Kessock Field and ends at the intersection of the bicycle/walking path and Gannett Road.
That in turn links with the sidewalk that goes past the tennis courts and the New Balance Student Recreation Center, all the way to the “top” of campus where first-year students are housed.
“All the students coming to attend the athletic events, or those who in the evening utilize the facilities for all the rec sports and intramural teams, they’ll have better access,” Biberstein said.
He said Alfond Way will provide a safe, lighted path for students, parents, staff and visitors covering the entire north end of campus.
Biberstein said the idea was conceived as a small project to install a sidewalk near Kessock Field that would enable players, coaches and fans to more easily access the field during the muddy spring months. From there, the larger project began to take shape.
The construction of Alfond Way will result in a few changes, including the loss of several parking spaces along the fence at Alfond Stadium/Morse Field and numerous spots in the “alley” between the field house and Mahaney Diamond.
“Unfortunately, we’re going to lose some parking,” Biberstein said. “That’s the negative, but the positive now is the students, after a game, have a lit sidewalk to walk on.”
It also should provide access and convenience for fans who park adjacent to the Mahaney Dome or in the tennis court parking lot.
Biberstein said UMaine must leave a 20-foot-wide section of asphalt in the alley to provide continued access for emergency and university service vehicles to access the back of the field house building. There will be a buffer of grass and a cobblestone swale between the road and the sidewalk.
Biberstein said the walkway, which will be plowed and maintained during the winter, is being built by the Sargent Corp. and is expected to be completed late this summer.
Alfond Arena upgrades continue
UMaine also is continuing its efforts to improve the experience inside Alfond Arena.
The university is spending $137,000 to install rubber flooring in many areas used by spectators. Biberstein said it was budgeted in last year’s renovations, but could not be completed because of the lateness of the more significant upgrades.
The flooring, like that installed in the arena’s Bear Necessities store, will be put down at the concession stand, in the main entrances and on the mezzanine level on both sides of the arena and behind the skyboxes.
“It’s going to brighten it up and instead of concrete, we’ll have a nice, sharp, clean floor that we can wax and polish,” he said.
There will be other sections measuring more than 3 feet wide that run from the basketball locker rooms on the mezzanine out to the stairs and down to ice level. They are designed to provide access for hockey players wearing skates.
Those areas previously had been covered by rugs.
wow, real newsworthy stuff other than the Alfond name
Pony up some big bucks and upstage the Alfond legacy of giving. I triple dog dare ya.
While cleaning up,try cleaning up the Bleacher seats that look like blank all the time…some bad enough you don’t know,should I sit on them or just stand on them…needs to be done and done after every few games to look like what Mr.Alfond intended it to be a first rate looking arena….if you have it…take care of it and that means you have to work to do it.
They should replace them.
I agree with you on this….for 2 yrs there has been some sort of dust/dirt ball hanging from underneath the balcony. I was really surprised when I got to my seats last year and looked up and it was still there, after all the reconstruction. Not a huge deal…just sayin’
Until you actually work at Alfond you don’t really realize how much the students do have to clean up after every hockey game or event. Trust me when I say we do clean the bleacher seats and since they are so old there is nothing we can really do about it. When you say that they should be cleaned after every couples games, well guess what, we actually clean them before EVERY game, not just every couple games like you suggest. We do take care of this arena and like I said you will never know how much we do for that arena until you actually work there. We have this arena and we take care of it to the best of our abilities.
I know some educational facilities at that university that could use an upgrading..why more crap for the football and hockey teams?
Because sports come first at D-I institutions
Maybe they should pull in more money. The engineering departments are building new facilities left and right.
Guess you didn’t take the time to actually READ the article….it’s for the STUDENTS!!!!
Too bad no one thought about upgrading academic facilities and funding!!!
What’s next, BDN article on the new Alfond drinking fountain :)
Funds for this coming from DOT. I m sure this happen before Gov. Lepage came into office. As far as coming from a bond passed. This is part of the promble with the bonds every one runs to vote yes on. You will go into the both and there in front of you is a bond for DOT. and you say o yes repairs to our roads. And then the bond pass’s and is gutted with side walks ,Bike Paths, Science rail road repairs, Lets buy some bus,s for Portland and Bangor, and the list goes on. O and at the end of whats left. We,re Maintance pave 2 miles on Rt. 11 in Brownville. This is whats Wrong with the BONDS. Full of PORK . And as Paul Harvey would say and NOW THE REST OF THE STORY.
That’s your opinion. It’s wrong, but it’s your opinion and I respect that.
About time UMaine spent some serious money on its athletic facilities. Better to keep the plaster falling down, sometimes during classes, in the oft-pictured Stevens Hall as repairing places for teaching and offices are NOT what UMaine is about these days. Can’t wait for Tim Whitehead to complain yet again about the alleged neglect of Alfond Arena.
It always amazes me that people seem to think that money spent on athletics would otherwise be spent on academics. If people donate money for a specific purpose, it is because they want their money spent that way. If they prefer it be spent on athletics, so be it. No one is taking anything out of academics. Period.