GFS dedicates new field house

by TOM UTESCHER

Normally quiet on a Sunday, the Germantown Friends School campus was abuzz on the afternoon of September 12, when students, parents, faculty and other supporters gathered for the official dedication of the school’s new field house. Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, children romped through a series of informal games and other activities in the 17,100 square-foot building, which is located at the corner of Green Street and School House Lane.

The erection of such a structure had been discussed in strategic planning sessions at GFS as far back as 1978. The builder, Turner Special Projects, began construction in June of 2003. Intended to blend aesthetically with surrounding buildings, the new edifice was designed by the firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which was also the architect of the recently-opened Liberty Bell Pavilion on Independence Mall.

The new facility is geared towards the school’s in-house physical education activities, rather than serving as a venue for interscholastic athletic contests. Germantown’s varsity basketball teams will continue to play home games next door in the Scattergood Gymnasium, which opened in 1980.

The field house will accommodate P.E. classes formerly held in two small, antiquated gyms located amongst the older buildings on the GFS campus. For basketball shootarounds en masse, the new sports hall boasts a total of ten backboards, and the rims can even be lowered to a height of just eight feet to suit younger athletes.

For formal hoops competition, the floor may be configured as one full-sized varsity court, or as two slightly smaller courts appropriate for middle schoolers. With the baskets retracted towards the ceiling, the large open space can be adapted for myriad uses, including indoor practices for many of the Tigers’ outdoor teams when they encounter inclement conditions.

In a larger sense, the school sees its new addition as an indication of its commitment not only to its own students, but to the greater Germantown community. Presiding over the dedication ceremony last Sunday, GFS Head of School Richard Wade remarked “We hope this place will become a resource for our neighbors.”

Philadelphia City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, one of several guest speakers at the event, spoke of growing up in Germantown and utilizing the Friends Free Library on the GFS campus. She praised the school for its longstanding and ongoing commitment to the stability of the neighborhood, where Germantown Friends has remained since its founding in 1845.