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Ferris Athletic Center
The George M. Ferris Athletic Center is the Trinity College athletic facility. Located on Ferris Roadway, it houses a fitness center, gymnasium, indoor rowing facility, squash courts, swimming pool, varsity weight room, and basketball courts. Ferris Athletic Center also connects to the Memorial Field House.
In 1961, George M. Ferris, Class of 1916 and trustee of Trinity College, led a committee to build a new athletic facility. The demand for a new facility was highlighted in the 1960-1961 Trinity College annual report by President Albert Jacobs. The then-current facility, the Memorial Field House, had dirt floors and was unable to accommodate Trinity's physical education requirements.
Construction began in 1968, after several delays due to trustees resigning from their posts and a fire in Alumni Hall. The new facility was constructed just north of the Memorial Field House. The Center's first public event, a folk music concert performed by Peter “Pete” Seeger, was attended by 2,000 people.
Ferris Athletic Center originally contained a gymnasium-auditorium with basketball and tennis courts that could be converted into an open area for concerts, convocations, and indoor commencements; a physical education unit for intramural basketball as well as volleyball, fencing, tennis, and physical education classes; and at the complex's center, a third unit housing locker rooms, an equipment room and training room, and wrestling, exercise, and crew rooms, including a rowing tank, the latter reflecting a revival of competitive rowing.
Many of the original facilities have remained, though numerous renovations and upgrades have been made over the years. In 2014-2015, new locker rooms opened. In the spring of 2022, new equipment and machines were installed in the Ferris Center.
2025 Addition
After the Trustees meeting in October 2023, Trinity announced plans to break ground on a 37,000 square foot addition to the George M. Ferris Athletic Center, anticipated to cost $30.1 million. It is the first major addition to the facility. Construction began in late 2023 and is expected be completed by June 2025 with “minimal disruption to practices and matches, which will continue in the existing facilities until the renovation is complete.”
The addition, which will be located at the northwest corner of the building, will include seven new squash courts and spectator space; an open-air second-floor terrace overlooking the playing fields and Chapel; work spaces for coaches, meetings, and film viewings; classrooms; and a new fitness center with weight room, cardio room, recreational gym, fitness studios, and student gathering spaces. The Center's existing squash facility will also be renovated to continue Trinity's support of Hartford's Capitol Squash program.
Sources
Trinity College to Expand Athletics Center, Boost Wellness Opportunities, October 18, 2023.
Trinity Athletics: Ferris Athletic Center
Trinity Athletics: Locker Rooms
Trinity College in the Twentieth Century (2000) by Peter and Anne Knapp, pp. 254-255.