BUBBLE AT BAKER

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QUICK FACTS

Official Name: Bubble at Baker
Date Opened: February 21, 2017
Seating Capacity: 1,000
Surface/Structure: Field Turf Revolution 360 playing surface, Seasonal Air-Supported Structure
Location: Baker Athletics Complex, Inwood-Manhattan, New York City
Original Cost: $10 million
Structure Named For: Not Available
Address: 505 West 218^th Street, New York, N.Y. 10034
First Athletic Competition: April 15, 2017, Women’s Lacrosse vs. Penn

THE FACILITY

During the winter months, Columbia varsity sports teams have access to a brand-new indoor winter practice facility, the Bubble at Baker, a Seasonal Air-Supported Structure (SASS) located at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.

Located at Columbia’s Baker Athletics Complex (corner of Broadway and 218^th Street) and adjacent to the Campbell Sports Center, the Bubble at Baker is a heated air-supported dome enclosing Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium and field. The facility also features a brand-new Field Turf Revolution 360 playing surface, which was installed in October 2017. All seven of Columbia’s field sports teams housed at the Baker Athletics Complex (football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, baseball, softball, field hockey, and lacrosse) receive access to the new indoor practice facility throughout the winter months. The bubble is inflated each winter from December through March.

Columbia is one of three Ivy League athletics programs to establish a Seasonal Air-Supported Structure within its athletics facility footprint. The placement of the structure over the wide soccer venue (as opposed to over the football field at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium) will provide Columbia with a large cubic footprint that will accommodate more athletes than a similar bubble on an American football field. The large amount of space provides flexible practice setups for all field sports which comes in handy for Columbia’s spring sports teams, who start competition before the end of New York City winters. This will provide Columbia teams a jump-start to their early season contests.

Resurfacing of the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium was completed by The LandTek Group, the firm responsible for last year’s successful resurfacing of Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The air-supported structure was manufactured by Arizon Building Systems.

The Bubble at Baker features approximately 92,000 square feet of practice space. By comparison, Levien Gymnasium affords about 15,000 square feet of practice space; University Gym provides only 5,000.

The Bubble at Baker project is the continuation of the University’s effort to modernize and improve Baker Athletics Complex over the past decade. In 2012, Columbia dedicated the award-winning Campbell Sports Center at the corner of 218th Street and Broadway. Designed by renowned architect and Columbia faculty member Steven Holl and his firm, the Campbell Sports Center has been lauded by numerous awards committees in New York and beyond. In 2014, Columbia unveiled the Muscota Marsh, a popular, scenic public green space for the Inwood community that the university supports on an ongoing basis.

Funds for the Bubble at Baker project were raised by donors to Columbia Athletics.

BUBBLE AT BAKER AMENITIES

Winter practice home for football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, baseball, softball, field hockey and lacrosse
New Field Turf Revolution 360 installed in 2017
Air supported structure over Rocco Commisso Soccer Stadium
92,000 square feet of practice space
Heated structure
Winter practice facility from winter months December through March