This semester construction has added a new level of improvement, along with a new location, to the Carmichael outdoor basketball courts.

Although not officially open yet, the basketball courts, located behind the new First Year College building and the Chiller Plant on Cates Avenue, are going to include more courts, a security system and even a webcam.

Since the construction of the Carmichael Recreation Center displaced the original four basketball half-courts, the Carmichael Complex Facilities and Operations committee relocated the basketball courts in the place of six tennis courts.

Eight basketball half-courts have been constructed, because the space and funding were available for it, according to Dawn Sanner, director of facilities and operations.

“We took out [the original courts] last April so that we could build the recreation center and when we did that we started the proposition and the proposal of building the new basketball courts on the other side of the building,” Sanner said. “We had the space and funding to put eight new ones there. We had to move them from one spot to the other and ended up with a little bit more [space].”

Sanner said she thinks the establishment and the improvements of the new courts will be very popular among students.

“What we find on this campus is that basketball is very popular,” she said. “When folks can get outside — they prefer to get outside — so we knew that when we took [the original courts] offline we would have to put courts back as soon as possible.”

Once complete, the new courts will not only serve as a space to play basketball, but also as a space for campus organizations to use.

The area will serve as a multipurpose location to be used by organizations such as ROTC and sports clubs when there is no other available field space for practice.

“A number of groups have been asking to use it for three-on-three charity tournaments,” Sanner said. “The hope was to turn this into an outdoor multipurpose space with basketball as the first primary use, but understanding that there will be other things coming out there that are great for us.”

The new courts will include a security system where only students and faculty members can type a specific code into the system and have access to the courts.

As of now there is no lighting in the area, but according to Sanner, the electricity will be running by the official opening of the courts in the spring semester.

Sanner also said the courts will be open until midnight or 1 a.m.

Another addition to the court will be webcams so that students can use a computer to pull up video of the courts and see if they are available — or even to watch a good game.

Sanner said even though the courts are not officially finished, students are still using them. Electricity and lighting will be the final touches to the project.

The construction of the new basketball courts started in July and was supposed to be complete before fall break. However, according to Sanner, there were weather and construction problems that delayed the project’s completion.

“We had the typical [construction problems] that you have where, when reading construction documents, I think it means one thing and another person thinks it means something else,” she said. “So, we got delayed. We planned on having [the courts] ready before fall break, but had concerns and had to go back, which is pretty typical of construction projects.”

Mike Harwood, University architect, said students have not yet realized where the new courts are, but once students do realize the new location, it will trigger interest.

“I think they are much better courts from when we took the [original courts] down,” Harwood said. “They are not going to tear up basketball shoes as quickly, and it’ll be less like playing in a parking lot, which is kind of the way it was before. People don’t know where to look for them especially because of construction and it’s hard to get behind that and realize that’s where the new courts are now.”

The addition to the Carmichael complex, which displaced the original courts, will include four fitness rooms which will hold karate and art group fitness programs, Port City Java, a fitness and wellness room for personal training and massages and the third floor will include 10,500 square feet of cardiovascular and weight training space.

“That new building was something that students approved a fee increase for a couple of years ago,” Harwood said. “We started construction on the [Recreation] Center last spring and sometime in the next 12 months or so, it will be finished.”

The construction of the recreation center began in April of last semester. It is targeted to finish Aug. 12, 2007.

Sanner plans to have a grand opening and a shoot around when the basketball courts are complete and formally open in the spring.