When envisioning the creation of this new sports complex, staff from the University Architect, Planning and Physical Facilities offices at The Ohio State University (OSU) determined that the best possible leader for the planning and design process would be a licensed Landscape Architect. Through a competitive selection process which had spelled out Landscape Architecture as the primary discipline, Columbus-based firm Edsall & Associates won this significant commission, the first of its kind on OSU's Main Campus. "I believe Landscape Architecture is a package of three disciplines - engineering, architecture, and horticulture - all in one," explains John Lawter, ASLA, University Landscape Architect and OSU's Project for the new facility. "There is no better profession to take the lead for this type of facility." How many different perspectives were required for the planning of a new complex? The project was unique from its inception, addressing a wide range of potential uses and populations. Even from the earliest stages, while gathering data from representatives of those agencies who would be responsible for, manage and use the fields, Deborah Edsall, Project Manager and co-founder of Edsall & Associates, recognized the challenge before them. "The Ohio State University wanted an absolutely top-rate facility, one that could serve as a showplace for visitors from other campuses and continue the University's tradition as a leading institution," remarks Ms. Edsall. "We worked with representatives from numerous areas, including both users and caretakers for the fields. We contacted people from the various sports to be played on the fields and welcomed their input in planning the facility to ensure that specific dynamics of their events were addressed. The call to perform was significant. The Ohio State University's original plans for the project required moving the existing intramural fields with the pending construction of a new interchange deemed essential to the University's growth and evolution. The southern end of the campus had been growing both physically and in importance to OSU over the past ten years as this area became the site for a widely-recognized regional health care center. "We realized a long, long time ago that we had a very difficult situation on this campus, especially with our fast-growing hospitals and their orientation for visitors and guests," recalls Senior Campus Planner, Jean Hansford. "After a traffic consulting firm verified the need for a new interchange with ramps connecting directly to our South Campus area offering immediate access to the University's Health Care Center, we met with the Ohio Department of Transportation. The Department agreed with the legitimacy of the ramps and approved funding for the improved access." This decision, however, has tremendous ramifications for the existing fields which would be replaced by the proposed on-off ramps. With dollars approved for the roadway work, discussion to replace the intramural facility intensified with the University's planning officials. The proposed complex would require a forty-acre site containing spaces for basketball, football, jogging, rugby, softball, and volleyball. In addition, concessions, restrooms, a utility and service building were also required. While the core of the project was to provide playing and practice space for collegiate intramural sports, the planning group, through research and discussion, identified a need for diversity and expansion of this concept. Bruce Maurer, Ph.D., Associate Director of Recreation and Intramural Sports at OSU and a leader in the process, explains: "We began by visiting approximately eighty different sites including parks and recreational facilities, corporate parks and other universities. We learned a tremendous amount from these on-site visits. The more places we visited, the more our original concept for the facility changed. We found not only was it important to talk to the director of facilities, but the director or superintendent of maintenance of every facility we visited." The initial data collection lasted eight months and resulted in a new vision for the facility. "One of the most interesting components of the project that emerged from our site visits was an appreciation for offering combined sports and recreation opportunities in one facility," recalls John Edsall, co-founder of Edsall & Associates and Project Landscape Architect. "Talking to the primary administrators of these complexes elevated our understanding of how parks and green spaces can integrate diverse populations. And this is very important to OSU." Dr. Maurer elaborates: ?EURoeMost University playing fields cater to the competitive, male-dominated sports. We wanted to create a more park-like setting, an inclusive environment to appeal to all groups, all ages, as well as different ethnicities. This offering, appealing to multiple ages and ethnics, is important to OSU which is home to thousands of families and has well over 3,000 international students." While in concept these changes were considered most ideal, the original funding for the project did not address the expansion from basic intramural playing fields to a more community-oriented project. "We had to go back to the University to request additional funding once our original planning group approved the expansion to accommodate playgrounds for children, picnic areas, and other recreational opportunities, such as a biking and jogging trail," Jean Hansford stated. In fact, these expanded features conveniently meshed with The Ohio State University's comprehensive vision for green spaces and community integration. "Our Master Plan states a strong directive and the need that any major developments that are a part of the West Campus area have a running trail or bikeway component which connects to existing regional trails," details Hansford. "The inclusion of a biking/jogging trail around the intramural fields contributes to a regional solution for the creation of recreation, all identified with OSU's vision for the campus." The site ultimately selected for the project required ingenuity and creativity from the Landscape Architect, Edsall & Associates. A forty-foot grade differential between the east and west ends of the selected and only available site was resolved through an innovative terracing plan. Three different planes, each separated by a ten-foot slope, function as primary zones of the facility. A wagon wheel design for the western third of the site accommodates four softball fields combined with four flag football fields. The facility service building, picnic area and children's play area further enhance the wheel hub. The central area contains four more softball fields and four lacrosse or rugby practice fields. Two regulation size rugby fields flank the far eastern third of the complex, also accommodating lacrosse, soccer and ultimate disk playing fields. Four sand volleyball courts, two basketball courts and additional picnic areas line the southern edge of the softball and flag football fields. A one mile bikeway/jogging trail circles the entire sports complex. Serving not only as a central gathering place for the University community, the fields also operate as a gateway to the Main Campus. "One of the main corridors of the University is Lane Avenue from the west," describes Jean Hansford. "The new intramural fields at Lane Avenue will connect with major open spaces on the campus and welcome visitors to the University through a kind of green belt winding throughout the grounds." This role, as a major campus entry, demanded integration of multiple use areas with aesthetics and, most importantly, ease of maintenance. As Dr. Maurer relates: "When I asked our Athletic Department staff what was the key to maintaining any athletic field, they replied 'drainage, drainage, drainage!!' Removing water is essential to upkeep of the field because if you can't drain it, you can't grow it and you cannot use the facility for which it was intended." "We have thoroughly enjoyed our role in this exciting project," enthuses Deborah Edsall. "It has called upon all of our skills as professionals: integrating diverse points of view, designing to a challenging site, creating a facility of note for a world-renowned institution as well as meeting the University's construction and maintenance budgets." But much more than an experiment in facility design, the most important role of the new Recreation and Intramural Sports Fields is as a haven to the sweat, blood and sometimes tears of athletes representing a wide gamut of talents, aspirations and expectations. Already a success in planning and communication, the complex will encourage broad-based participation for intramural athletes, collegiate athletes, families and friends. Expecting to serve over 250,000 users annually, the value of this field will appreciate and be appreciated through that universal institution of "play." This project represents an extremely important prototype to Landscape Architects across the country who are often faced with challenges of the value of the Landscape Architecture profession. It is significant that OSU chose to select a Landscape Architectural firm to design, prepare construction documents and serve as the project coordinator, involving Architecture, Civil and Electrical Engineering, for this multi-million dollar recreational facility located at one of the significant gateways to The Ohio State University. lasn "The university maintenance team was instrumental throughout the planning process as well as representatives of the University architect & Physical Planning Office and Department of Physical Facilities/University Engineer's Office," adds John Edsall. "We met with them to discuss irrigation and mowing equipment. We addressed watering systems right down to the valve type." A facility service building, picnic area and children's play area further enhance the wheel hub. Flags greet visitors into the wagon-wheel design complex that accommodates 4 softball fields and 4 flag football fields; 4 sand volleyball courts, 2 basketball courts and additional picnic table areas line the southern edge of the park.