Yale's soccer & lacrosse teams new field house is ready for action

Located just southwest of the Yale Bowl, adjacent to Reese Stadium, is the brand new Tsai Lacrosse Field House. Thanks to the generous gift from former men’s lacrosse player Joseph C. Tsai ’86, ’90 J.D., and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, the Tsai Lacrosse Field House opened on Monday, May 31, 2021. It is now ready to welcome Yale’s soccer and lacrosse teams in the fall. The 34,800-square-foot facility includes an athletic medicine and sports performance area, strength and conditioning weight room, film room, team center, locker rooms, and offices. Additionally, a hydrotherapy room with a built-in water treadmill offers hot and cool tubs for training and rehabilitation.

The new facility can also accommodate events or banquets. A new raised crosswalk over Central Avenue, dividing the athletic complex, was also constructed to improve pedestrian safety.

Construction started on this new two-story building in December 2019. In early 2020 the COVID-19 New Field House adjacent to Reese Stadium. Photo credit: Fly On The Wall Productions

pandemic disrupted the project schedule. New processes were quickly put into place by the Office of Facilities to keep the project on track. Technology helped everyone keep the job moving forward, including using digital imagery to replace paper drawings and virtually conducting meetings with contractors and architects. The construction management team used “HoloBuilder,” a digital platform that facilitates remote access to construction sites, providing detailed 360-degree views of ongoing progress. Work was completed on the yet-to-be-named building in April 2021. Yale Athletics began moving in and using the facility in June and is eager to welcome Yale’s lacrosse and soccer teams this fall.

The building emits zero carbon emissions through its electric heating and cooling system—a pioneering project at Yale. “This building is beautiful and compact. We had no challenges installing this heating and cooling system. It was simple compared to other buildings on campus that have steam or gas systems. This is part of Yale’s overall goal to electrify systems and lessen the use of steam and fossil fuels to heat and cool buildings,” said Daniel Disco, Construction Project Manager, Office of Facilities.

Special thanks to these individuals who worked on this project:

• Daniel Disco – Facilities Construction Project Manager, Office of Facilities
• Michael Douyard – Associate Director, Construction Project Management, Office of Facilities
• Keith Fordsman – Capital Program Director, Office of Facilities
• Jeromy Powers – Lead Project Planner, Office of Facilities
• Gilbane Building Company – Construction company of record
• Perkins and Will Architects