RIP Kehoe Field

[RusskyHoya]

The plastic-green astroturf emerald of the Hilltop may have wrenched its last ankle.

[hoyatables]

Shed a tear for the frozen tundra of Kehoe Field...many a liquid breakfast up there on a cold but sunny morning.

[LizziebethHoya]

Should have happened 10 years ago

[RusskyHoya]

I guess we'll find out about its fate within the year.

Under current master-planning negotiations, Yates would be torn down and a new athletics center would be built where Shaw Field currently is, creating space for new fields. The development would cost approximately $75 million.

Morey said at the roundtable that the university will decide within 12 months whether it will repair Kehoe Field while waiting for the creation of the new athletics center.

The university is still considering its options for renovation. A $10 million renovation would take a year to cpmplete and last for 10 years, but a $30 million renovation would take 18 months to complete and last for 30 years.

www.thehoya.com/complaints-and-closures-strain-campus-resources/

[RusskyHoya]

"Within the year" LMAO I really should've known better by that point. Announced earlier this December:

The renovations are set to begin February 2019 and finish in August...

Logan wrote she was pleased to hear the university’s renovation timeline, which will have Kehoe Field ready for the next academic year.

“The turnaround time has been relatively quick, especially because when Kehoe was first closed it was unclear how long it would take to be fixed,” Logan wrote. “We hope that the field is actually finished by the projected date so that we will be able to use it for the full year.”

[Nevada Hoya]

But no track?!

[njhoya78]

Dec 31, 2018 13:19:34 GMT -5 Nevada Hoya said:

But no track?!

Well, it's not as though there's much history with track at Kehoe Field. . . .

[Nevada Hoya]

Dec 31, 2018 17:12:22 GMT -5 njhoya78 said:

Dec 31, 2018 13:19:34 GMT -5 Nevada Hoya said:

But no track?!

Well, it's not as though there's much history with track at Kehoe Field. . . .

That was where we had the intramural track meet, when I was there. Of course, it was a cinder track and I think I still have some of those in my knee where I fell in the 100 yard dash. Where was the track that was build on top of Yates, but had to be removed, leaving us nothing but the 5 lap to the mile track in the neighborhood?

[Elvado]

I distinctly remember cutting across Kehoe on our way home from after hours at about 5:30 am one cold October morning. As we hit the field, we were met by a large man with a flashlight and a booming voice asking what we were doing there. We told the man we were going home, and he asked us to go another way as he was conducting practice.

Yes, it was Big John and that is what midnight madness was in 1984...

[RusskyHoya]

Dec 31, 2018 13:19:34 GMT -5 Nevada Hoya said:

But no track?!

So that's an interesting thought... I'm guessing that the same fatal design flaws that result in the turf surface deteriorating rapidly over the course of several years are even worse for maintaining a flat, high-quality track surface? Or perhaps the necessary measures are prohibitively expensive?

In any case, now seems like a good time to start the conversation about what is ultimately built on the Yates footprint once New Yates is built on the Shaw Field space. Presumably, the centerpiece has to be a natural grass soccer field. But will it have a track around it? I love the closeness to the pitch at (the current incarnation of) Shaw Field, to me it's a much better viewing experience than at, say, Maryland. But it seems utterly foolish not to invest in a top notch track (AND field, finally!) facility, given the investments and successes on the running side of the program over the years.

What say you, NevadaHoya and other track diehards. What's the best way to go about this?

[Nevada Hoya]

It is hard to say, given that I have not been on campus in six and a half years. The last time Coach Henner brought me to watch the team practice at the Ellington neighborhood track. It was amazing how that were able to practice with the distance guys going one way, the sprinters going another way, and the neighborhood children came onto the track halfway through the workouts. I know the track alumni came together for use of the track, but they did have to have it open to the neighborhood.

I saw a track meet in the 80's (I believe) at the track on top of Yates. It was a beautiful track, so I was sorry to hear that it was taken down because of water draining problems. So I don't know what they have in mind concerning Yates and the Shaw Field. It would be great if they consider constructing a track around the soccer pitch. So that would take money. The man who spearheaded the use of Ellington track, Dr. Jack Reilly, is no longer with us. Maybe Miles Irish, whose daughter is on the team, will help, plus the people with the Spike Shoe club. If Ed Shaw has any influence on what to do with Shaw field, I may contact him, as he was my classmate (ironically he was on the golf team at GU).

BTW, a natural grass field for the soccer pitch is better, given the current "fear" of artificial turf. The EPA was monitoring some of those pitches because of the possibility of tire crums, that were used for the composition of the field, being contaminated.

I hope Julie has some say in a replacement track. I am sure that the lack of proper track and field facilities makes it hard to attract the best runners and field eventers.