Future of WPI Events
 

Students at WPI just got an email blast about the new athletic center being built, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have dedicated space in the new 114,000 sf center to pits for robotics events. Below is an image of the floorplan. More info here.

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

Now that's just flippin' awesome!!! Congrats!!! :)

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

What will they be using that space for the rest of the year? It's great and all to think about what events use your facilities and design accordingly but right now there are two events that I know of that need robot pits. Presumably they aren't going to build this large open area and use it twice a year...

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Looks like they are mapping out enough spaces for 55/56 teams.

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It fits Battlecry well.
I guess they wanted the WPI regional to get bigger too.

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The robot pits appear to be one floor below the gymnasium level, but with a nice view of the swimming pool.

Unless...

...it's advanced notice of a future season's underwater game?

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

Just goes to show how FIRST is getting seen as more of a sporting like event every day. This keeps up soon one of Dean's robotic arms will be sending out a first pitch.

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

Notice the "Connection to Harrington" in the right side of the floor plan. This would indicate that the field would continue to be in Harrington while the pits would be in the new athletic center. Eliminating pits in Harrington would allow for the field to be centered on the basketball court, thus opening up the other side of seating (and doubling participant capacity).

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

The space is actually pretty cool. Power will be built into each pit. Screens are being built into the walls for rankings and possibly even video. The space is at the same level as Harrington and will have an easy path to get there while being inside the entire time.

When we won't be having competitions the space will probably be used for yoga and other such things.

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So.....where is everyone going to park?

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

A most excellent question =)

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

Perhaps in Connecticut

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Well, most events are on the weekend, so they can use Founder's Lot, assuming WPI lets them.. There's the tiny lot at the 'Chopper down the hill, but no good for teams hauling gear .. So might as well be somewhere in Cownecticut ;)

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They are also planning on eventually building a parking garage under the baseball and softball fields. This wouldn't happen until after the new athletics facility is done.

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There was parking lots on the campus.
Just don't know how close they would be to the building.

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Shuttle buses!

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

I'm guessing in the garage at Gateway park with a shuttle service running. It's about a 3/4 mile/15 minute walk each way along Salisbury Street.

Land around here is too valuable to build surface parking lots; they've been replacing them left and right with buildings and amenities over the past few years. Rumors have it that the Library parking lot may be replaced with a "Senior Quad" in their long term goals as well.

Now if Worcester was smart, what they really need to do is to rebuild a few key lines of their old streetcar system (a few hub/spoke lines that merge in the downtown CBD/Union Station). Trying to drive anywhere in Worcester between the hours 7am-9am and from 4pm-7pm is a nightmare. All the major roads are literally parking lots; I've walked to the grocery store faster (it's a ten minute walk) than the average speed of traffic on multiple occasions. There are buses here, but well, they're buses; no one really likes riding them and no one really knows where they go and/or how often they come.

But if Worcester was to follow the lead of cities like Portland, OR; Washington, DC; and over 80 other cities across the country and start building its streetcar lines, you'd eliminate the need for a sizable chunk of parking. And the parking that would remain could be consolidated into parking garages, freeing up valuable real estate for economic development. Combine that with the high population densities throughout much of Worcester (thanks to the thousands of Triple Deckers) and 30,000+ college students in Worcester (each college is conveniently located almost evenly spaced around Worcester, thus providing an "anchor" for the end of each of the streetcar spoke lines) and a cheap student discount for the streetcar system, and you'll see high ridership.

I also think Worcester/WPI/Some developer should also convert the old Worcester Memorial Auditorium, (which currently isn't being used for anything, but is located directly between the main WPI campus and the WPI Gateway Park) into an iMAX theater. It could be used by the Worcester Art Museum (located right next door), as well as for general release films, and would really help liven up the neighborhood.

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Is there an estimated date of completion on this? I'm looking forward to testing it out.

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The building is suppose to be finished the summer of 2012 if the schedule goes as plan.

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Just saying, but DC doesnt have streetcars, but we do have a subway that is packed during rush hour, and tons of parking garages beneath almost every building.

Just my $0.02

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That was the original plan. The latest that I heard was they're rushing to try and have it done in time for the WPI Regional next year. They're breaking ground in the first week of May IIRC.

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There was a pretty good article about the return of streecars in the NY Times a few months ago. In it they stated that DC is in the process of plannng/constructing 30 or 40 miles of streetcar lines. The first line in Anacostia is already under construction and will open is another year or two.

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They announced something like this at this year's WPI Regional. I doubt they'll get it done in only 9 months, but considering WPI didn't fill up very fast this year that shouldn't be much of a problem at least for 2010.

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I have no idea where you heard that since it physically isn't possible for them to build the building that fast.

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

Glad to see there is so much interest on this topic!

We are really excited for the sustaining and growing support of robotics at WPI! FIRST and WPI have been in partnership since the beginning of the program in 1992, and this partnership, among other things, has significantly fueled the creation of our undergraduate, graduate, and PHD degrees in robotics!

As for the new Sports & Recreation Center, hopefully this will allow our ever growing competition robot events to expand. The Robotics staff was part of the development group, which made way for some of the features Nick mentioned including level access to Harrington and a power layout conducive to the FIRST pit sizes.

Given it's anticipated completion date of the Fall of 2012, our first event that may be able to make use of this space is our Massachusetts FLL Championship in December of 2012. The first events that would see the real benefit of this site will be the potential 2013 WPI Regional and BattleCry@WPI 14. With these events, we would likely expand to double-sided bleachers to maximize spectator viewing space and utilize the pit space in the Rec center. Hopefully this will allow us to consider such expansions as hosting more teams at our regional and a full-size practice area!

The array of robotics competitions, camps, and other activities hosted by WPI is more expansive than many people realize and those opportunities should only be enhanced by this addition to campus.

As for parking... in any city this will always be a challenge. This year, teams utilized on-campus parking lots and we offered shuttles to the Crowne Plaza. For future events, we will continue to expand this shuttle service from on-campus or city lots as necessary to ensure everyone can attend the event!

The ground-breaking will take place one week after BattleCry@WPI 11 and should be the start of some great things for WPI FIRST.

Thanks!
Colleen

Re: Future of WPI Events
 

Might I also point out that even if parking is on the other side of the campus, WPI is not that large as to be an issue if people need to park on side streets and by the library. In two years of living here, I have found everything on campus to be a 5 minute walk away or a 2 minute bike ride. If teams need to drop off equipment, they can do what happens when Freshman move in for the first day of their college lives: drop it all on the curb with some of their teammates then find somewhere else to park. I figure that if about 1000 families who are dropping off one child each can all drive alone and still all find places to park and successfully start college, then the next WPI FIRST Regional can do it, especially because, in my experience, FIRST teams are some of the best carpool-ers in the world. No outsourcing to CT required.

Just my $0.02

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There are plenty of events that could take advantage of a convention-hall-like space that I can think of:

• WPI Regional
• Battlecry
• Robonautica (FLL)
• Savage Soccer
• Frontiers
• Junior Robotics Challenge
• Worcester Regional Science and Engineering Fair
• Destination Imagination

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And when there aren't any events, maybe it could be a sort of Mega-Wedge!:ahh: