IN HOPES of improving the management and look of its facilities, the Blue Eagle Gym (BEG) has been closed for major renovations. With this, University offices and varsity teams have been moved to new venues as BEG undergoes refashioning for University-wide events and higher quality athletics training.

Ateneo Athletics Office Director Emmanuel Fernandez disclosed that the construction will allow for new amenities, such as an indoor running track encircling the building, a centralized air conditioning system, and a larger floor space that can accommodate roughly three basketball courts.

Back to the starting line

Plans for the gym’s renovation began back in 2019 as Fernandez stated that the University Athletics Office (UAO) believed that the venue was too hot for the students. In particular, attendees of the Ateneo Grade School masses would faint because of the heat.

Given these issues, the UAO originally planned to add an air conditioning system into the venue. However, Fernandez mentioned that the plan evolved into improving the BEG into an area fit for big University events, taking inspiration from American schools that often hold ceremonies in their gyms.

Elaborating on the planning’s development, Fernandez said that renovations had to go through different approval stages from the administration before it was greenlit.

The first stage was a review of structural plans with University officials and architects. Following approval, the project had to find external sources for its budget since no funding is coming from the University. According to Fernandez, the project is currently being sourced by an anonymous donor who is covering the majority of the expenses.

Fernandez disclosed that the estimated timeline of the construction is around one year, with the construction having begun in September.

In addition to the upgrades in acoustics and ventilation, the concrete bleachers will be removed in favor of pull-out bleachers which can be stored away during training. Fernandez explained that these changes will improve the venue’s capacity as the new estimated floor size will roughly equate the area of three basketball courts.

Temporary homes

Despite sweeping renovations, Fernandez cited that one of the many difficulties with the renovation came in the relocation of the various sports teams and offices stationed at the BEG.

Notably, the office of the Ateneo Employee and Workers Union will be relocated to the dorm areas, while the Security Office will be relocated to Gate 5. According to Fernandez, the University delegated these relocations in line with the UAO’s decision of making the gym exclusive for athletic teams.

On the other hand, Fernandez explained that the athletic teams housed in BEG—such as the Judo, Table Tennis, and Chess teams—have slowly been moving out of the gym and training elsewhere.

For instance, the Judo team will be moving their training to the Cervini Hall’s Rec Room, while the Table Tennis team will be using the second floor of the Gonzaga Cafeteria. The Chess team will also move to the Pollock Renewal Center’s meeting room.

In contrast, other teams have yet to finalize the details of their new setups relative to their equipment and team size. While the UAO is helping relocate teams to spaces ideal for each respective team’s equipment and size, the new venues still pose a challenge. Table Tennis Coach Rosar Crisostomo commented that the transfer would not only mentally impact the players but also affect their technique.

“We don’t know if [the venue] will be spacious enough. We don’t know if we can use it as often as we would like to, and we don’t know if we will have the same amount of space as we currently have,” he admitted.

Due to these changes, Crisostomo foresees that the Table Tennis teams will be entering a challenging year, and hopes that the team can return back to the new gym as soon as possible. Fortunately, he said that the UAO has assured the teams that they will be welcomed back once renovations have been completed.

A new future

Fernandez stated that one of the other main reasons behind the refurbishments is to create a quality area that is up to par with the level of training athletes experience.

“Being a student-athlete is difficult, you not only handle academics but [also] sports. What is important for me is to have an area for athletes to train inside the University,” he said.

However, Fernandez mentioned that it is most important to improve the BEG rather than create a new building, stressing that revamping will mainly be done to the interior in order to keep the iconic facade of the building.

“Most of the NCAA games were done here [before], and I remember in college, even concerts were being done here. But now napag-iwanan na siya (it’s been left behind by changing times),” he added, hoping to revive the landmark’s prestige.

Meanwhile, Crisostomo hopes that the Blue Eagle Gym’s renovations could be done as soon as possible, especially given the Table Tennis team’s 20-year history with the venue. He remains hopeful that the construction will be able to provide a more conducive area to train for all athletic teams.