WATERVILLE — Iron workers from American Steel and Precast Erectors lowered the last beam into place on Tuesday to complete the steel skeleton of the new athletic complex on the campus of Colby College in Waterville.

It’s the largest single project in the college’s history, according to Colby President David A. Greene.

In April 2017, Greene said the athletic complex was one of two things, the other being the arts, that would draw people to Waterville and sustain the revitalization of the city that the college and community had embarked upon. Greene predicted people staying in hotels and eating and spending money on other activities would enrich the community by more than $1 million a year.

The $200-million, 350,000-square-foot complex, which broke ground in 2017, is being built on Campus Drive, diagonally across the street from Johnson Pond, and will have what college officials have said is the first Olympic-sized swimming pool in the state. It will have an indoor competition center with a 200-meter track and a multi-level, 13,500-square-foot fitness center that will be available for use by residents of the community, region and state. A gymnasium, squash and aquatic centers, hockey arena, studios, training rooms and coaching suites are part of the plan.

The building will have a landscaped courtyard that is open to the sky. Its design is environmentally sensitive, and wetlands are being kept intact as part of the project.

The complex is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2020.

 

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