Since its initial construction in 1970, Pucillo Gymnasium has received countless upgrades. From the lobby, to the locker rooms, bleachers, gym floor and much more, these improvements have been made in an effort to better athletic facilities for students, athletes and the overall community.
Most recently, the focus of these improvements have been directed towards the pool area. Over the holiday break, this 240,000-gallon indoor natatorium had a complete cleaning and resurfacing of the pool deck. This was achieved by filling grout and glazing it to seal the flooring, which was important as years of grime had built up between the tiles.
“The floor is so much cleaner and looks a lot nicer now,” said Thomas Waltz, assistant vice president of facilities. “These improvements leave a good first impression on users of the pool, including Millersville’s swim team and competitors, Penn Manor students and those who come to Millersville University for athletic camps.”
In addition to the improved flooring, a new fully accessible lift for those with disabilities was also installed. Since chlorine is incredibly hard on equipment and materials, the decade old lift had become virtually inaccessible. But through the collaboration between intramurals, athletics and facilities, they were able to work together with a contractor to install the new lift for pool visitors to enjoy.
Many other upgrades are currently being considered by facilities for Pucillo, including the possibility of installing new starting blocks for swimmers, adding a women’s softball batting cage for athletes and installing air conditioning.
“We’re also looking into the possibility of changing the water system campus-wide in order to have softer water. This would especially help with lessening the amount of deterioration that scaling has on our pool equipment,” said project manager, Ron Frisbie.
All of these upgrade considerations are part of the “10-Year Master Plan,” a campus wide initiative that will steer capital construction projects for the next decade.
“The beginning of this plan will kick off in the spring semester, and will be a six to eight month process with open forums and input from staff, faculty, students and Millersville Borough,” said Waltz.
For more information on the capital construction, contracting and design projects, please visit: https://www.millersville.edu/facmgmt/cccd/index.php