Athletic Facilities
Alfond Gymnasium (1927-2020)
Colby\’s athletic facilities have certainly evolved over the years.
Initially, Colby only had outdoor fields but soon came the need for a gymnasium on campus. On this page you can see articles about the creation of the Colby athletic facilities and historical images further down. Below is an article from the Colby Echo about the first Colby College Gymnasium in 1927.
The Wadsworth Gymnasium was build in the 1950s and the Alfond Athletic Center was finished in 1970. Those facilities are what students at Colby still used today, with little expansion or renovation since then. As you can see in the photos below, many of the scenes are not too different to what they are today.
An article was written in the Colby Echo in November of 2018 on the History of the Athletic Center. Click here to read the full article.
images of colby\'s athletic facilities from the 50s to the 80s
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- Wadsworth Gymnasium, 1950s
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- Construction of the Athletic Center, 1968
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- Harold Alfond Athletic Center, 1970s
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- Wadsworth Gymnasium, 1950s
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- Construction of the Alfond Rink, 1970
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- Wadsworth Gymnasium basketball court, 1950
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- Campus 1974
Since then many additions and improvements were made to the Alfond Athletic Center to make it what it was until it closed in the Spring of 2020. Now, we have a new athletic center. Below is a video of Colby\’s facilities from just before the new AC was built.
Harold Alfond Athletic Center (2020-present)
The 350,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building is the most advanced and comprehensive NCAA D-III facility in the country, and one in a series of major investments by the College to create and support best-in-class programs and initiatives. It was made possible in large part from the generous philanthropic support of the Harold Alfond Foundation, a longtime contributor to Colby College.
The Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center, which is located at the north end of campus across from Johnson Pond, has a wide range of unique venues. Key among them are an aquatics center with the only Olympic-sized Myrtha pool in Maine, an ice arena with year-round regulation ice, the Margaret M. Crook Center with three regulation-length basketball/volleyball courts, and the open-air O’Neil Atrium at the center of the building. Additional highlights include:
- The three-level Boulos Family Fitness Center that includes a mix of free weights, cables, selectorize and cardio equipment, open areas for stretching and training, as well as dedicated fitness studios and a mindfulness and meditation room
- An indoor competition center (track/field house) with a six-lane track, regulation tennis courts, and field-event accommodations for pole vault, high jump, long/triple jump, and shot put
- A squash center with nine championship regulation courts
- A 42-foot tall climbing and bouldering wall with terrain ranging from easy vertical to more difficult articulated areas
- A dedicated athletic trainer’s suite with hydrotherapy pools as well as exam rooms and a triage room
The new center’s size and capacity is enabling a level of sports, fitness, and recreation that is unavailable at many institutions. It has also allowed Colby to launch a new and unique fitness and recreation program for the entire campus.
The new center, which was the largest building project in Maine at the time of construction, surpasses conventional athletics and recreation facility design by bringing together all of Colby\’s indoor competition venues, as well as training, recreation, and support areas, into one graceful space.
The new Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center highlights Colby’s commitment to driving the economic resurgence of Waterville and Central Maine. To that end, the ability to eventually invite more teams and events to campus—from NESCAC to international competitions—will have a significant positive impact on the local economy.
Construction of the $200-million Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center, which broke ground in October 2017, was completed on time, and of the more than 80 contractors involved with the work, nearly 50 were Maine-based. Additionally, almost $120 million of the overall cost of the project went to businesses within the state.