Short Takes

May/June 2009

Taking The Game To New Heights

Union City, N.J., puts athletic fields on the roof of a space-saving new high school

By Tom Nicholson

A project to build a new 366,000-sq-ft high school within a single city block in one of the most densely populated cities in the nation spurred the design-build team to bring school construction to a new level.

With limited building space available in congested Union City, N.J., the Union City Board of Education chose the only place available to them to locate the school’s athletic fields: the roof.

Faced with the challenge of consolidating two local high schools into one, “the only site available was just five acres,” says Frank Acinapura, director of facilities for Union City Board of Education. “So the only place we had to go was up.”

The $178-million project involves the demolition of the antiquated Roosevelt Stadium, which stood at the site since 1937, removal of more than 70,000 cu yd of fill and construction of a school facility large enough for 2,800 students. Started in 2007, the project is scheduled to be completed this spring.

Piscataway, N.J.-based Epic Management Inc., a Building Contractors Association of New Jersey member, heads the design-build team that includes Cliffside, N.J.-based RSC architects, Saint Louis-based HOK and owner Union City School Board.

It became clear to the project team early on that the state requirement stipulating that sports fields must be included in new school construction would be tough to fulfill in crowded Union City, says Brian Stricker, Epic Management’s project manager.

Hearing of a similar structure at Saint John’s University in Queens, N.Y., which features a football field built atop a roof, the team visited the school to determine if the Union City project could incorporate the same approach.

“It was an unusual approach, but it was really the only solution for this site,” Stricker says. Even with the owner’s blessing and a highly qualified team in place, “we were all somewhat wary in the beginning,” he adds.

“The school-board members were involved in the design from the beginning, and we eventually all bought into the idea of putting the fields on the roof,” says Acinapura. “It really became a labor of love for all of us in the town.”

1. The outdated Roosevelt Stadium was the only site for Union City’s new high school. 2. The design-build team committed to the bold design and demolished the old stadium. 3. Construction began in 2007 to combine two high schools and save downtown. 4, 5. The rooftop sports stadium is the first of its kind for a New Jersey school.(Photos courtesy of Epic Management Inc.)

Taking cues from the green-roof trend, in which designers regularly incorporate heavily trussed roofs capable of supporting above-grade structures as well as the required drainage and waterproofing, the project team came up with a design that supports a 4,000-person-capacity athletic facility on the school’s roof. Included are artificial-turf baseball and football fields and bleachers, supported on the roof by dozens of 100-ft-long, 10-ft-deep steel trusses.

The team struggled with the inner-city location throughout construction. “Working in tight places like this presents a lot of logistical and staging challenges,” Stricker says.

Beneath the roof are 66 classrooms, a 21,000-sq-ft gymnasium, a 7,500-sq-ft performing arts auditorium with 950 seats, a 12,000-sq-ft media center and a 200-space parking garage.

The roof is 4.5 acres and will include seven light stanchions for night games and 40-ft-tall nets on each end of the field to prevent field-goal kicks from landing downtown. A key part of the design was water drainage, “which became a technical issue,” Stricker says. “We consulted with green-roof designers and with waterproofing consultants.”

From the field’s rooftop vantage point, the horizon is framed by the Manhattan skyline to the east and the Watchung Mountains to the west. “When people are up there, they are in awe,” Stricker says.