On July 24, the Spartan Athletics Center (SAC) team handed over the keys to the just-finished 54,000-square-foot athletics facility‚ the new home for San Jose State University's (SJSU) Spartan football and men‚Äôs/women‚Äôs soccer teams. Student-athletes across all 22 of SJSU‚Äôs athletics teams will also benefit from the SAC‚Äôs premium amenities and resources, a vital component to recruiting top-tier players.
The players‚ palpable enthusiasm during the building reveal was captured by SJSU‚'s creative media team in a widely distributed video that's been viewed nearly 27,000 times on Instagram.
"Contributing to the completion of this unique project has definitely been one of my greatest professional achievements", says Project Manager Saurabh Bisen. "Knowing that this project will solve several major hurdles that SJSU’s student-athletes had been facing for years is quite fulfilling."
As an SJSU alumnus, Assistant Project Manager Tanita Jha felt a particularly strong connection to the SAC, which was located in an area brimming with nostalgia from her undergraduate days.
"The SAC's site was once a dirt lot that my friends and I tailgated in as SJSU students,‚" she shares. "Returning to the site as an alumnus and taking in the gorgeous state-of-the-art building that I helped build in its place is nothing short of amazing."
The celebrations continued a few weeks later at the official SAC ribbon-cutting, where student-athletes from the football, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer teams thanked all those involved with delivering the SAC and emphasized the indelible impact the new facility would have on their future athletic and academic performances. Prior to the SAC’s construction, the players had to drive to Santa Clara for sports injury-related treatment and facilitation and prepare for games in facilities described as worse than those at their high schools.
Now, student-athletes can begin treating any injuries incurred from games or practices right at “home.” In addition to top-of-the-line classrooms, a cafeteria to support nutrition and weight management, a centralized sports facility to foster efficiency, and a dedicated space for SJSU’s Beyond Sparta program (a campus program designed to support student-athletes’ internship/job-searching process), the SAC offers hot and cold plunge pools, a sports medicine facility, and a hydrotherapy room to facilitate injury prevention and recovery. Additional features of the beautiful new facility include locker rooms, training rooms, coaches’ offices, clubrooms, multi-purpose learning spaces, stadium game day suites, laundry facilities, storage facilities, indoor/outdoor student lounge space, and a spacious auditorium equipped with the latest technology for optimum game/practice viewing.
“Witnessing a dirt lot with trenches transform into a student athletics center was incredible,” says Assistant Project Manager Ahlong Shin. “Coming to Webcor from a small TI and joining this ‘small’ project was even more stressful and challenging than I’d anticipated, but I'm proud of everything I’ve learned in my scopes and to have been part of such a great team full of amazing people who were willing to put in the time to complete everything we needed to achieve occupancy."
Like Ahlong, Sr. Project Engineer Manny Lopez reflects on his SAC experience with immense gratitude for such an exceptional first experience working on a core & shell project. Manny joined the SAC team fresh out of the Terrazzo trade world, ready to learn everything he could about “the other side” of construction and tackle the various challenges involved with delivering a C&S project.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity to have learned from such great leaders and co-workers throughout the course of this One Webcor project" he says. ‚"From the Webcor Craft project managers and project engineers to my teammates on the Builders side, everyone contributed to my personal and professional growth and helped lay the foundation of my career here at Webcor."
Knowing the immeasurable impact SAC would have on SJSU's student athletes fueled his motivation to deliver high-quality work each and every day—especially when he realized that the SAC could one day be his own kids (or future grandkids) home-away-from-home.
"Thinking about that motivated me to go the extra mile quite a few times," he says. "I'll carry that mindset into all future projects. That feeling of pride and fulfillment from your work really lifts you up during difficult times."
