A Building for Everybody
Photographs by Ashley L. Conti and Gabe Souza


A Building for Everybody
Photographs by Ashley L. Conti and Gabe Souza
Above all, the 354,000-square-foot athletics and recreation center offered space—lots and lots of well-ventilated space.
It became a place to decompress from uncertainty and stress, and where people could act and feel human. The training staff arranged hundreds of pieces of fitness and cardio equipment 20 feet apart throughout the building, including around the ice rink and alongside the pool.
“This place allowed them to have a release valve,” said Mike Wisecup, vice president and Harold Alfond Director of Athletics. “You could sense it when people came in here—they could just breathe.”
The building has transformed Colby athletics and recreation programs with its modern training facilities, spacious locker rooms, and superb competition venues that encourage athletic excellence. That is especially true with the Aquatics Center, where an unprecedented 167 school, meet, and national records were set over two weekends in spring 2022 when Colby hosted the Men’s and Women’s NESCAC Swimming and Diving Championships. The new Myrtha pool—Northern New England’s only 50-meter pool—was engineered for optimal performance, with less water resistance, more buoyancy, and lower levels of energy-sapping poolside humidity.

The men’s hockey team excelled as well. Under Jack Kelley Head Coach for Colby Men’s Hockey Blaise MacDonald, the team advanced to the semifinals of the NESCAC Men’s Hockey Championship and landed a trio of players on the All-NESCAC team, and defenseman Jack Sullivan ’24 won All-American honors.
From the moment the building opened, the flow of people hasn’t stopped.
On many days, there are morning yoga classes, noontime games of pickup basketball, and evening open swims. Tuesday is the busiest day, when students, faculty, and staff enter the building an average of 3,200 times, an impressive number given the student body this year numbered about 2,200. They work out in the Boulos Family Fitness Center, ascend Aidan’s Climbing and Bouldering Wall, and, when the weather’s nice, congregate in the David F. O’Donnell Courtyard.

‘They gave us the keys to the car’
There are close to 35 club sports and more under consideration. “There’s pickleball, badminton, dodgeball,” Bracy said, ticking off the offerings that quickly came to mind. “Group fitness, yoga, ballroom dance, self-defense. We’ve got several club sports pending—men’s and women’s basketball, women’s cycling, women’s lacrosse.”
It adds up to an institution willing to invest in the health and well-being of its people. Students, faculty, and staff are incorporating fitness and exercise into their daily life because it’s convenient and fun, he said, and part of living a healthy life.
‘They were always in awe’

Max Abene ’26, a first-year hockey player, committed to Colby after touring the O’Neil | O’Donnell Forum and Jack Kelley Rink with MacDonald. “I visited six or seven NESCAC schools, but when I stepped foot on the Colby campus and walked around with Coach MacDonald, it felt like this was a place I could spend a lot of time,” Abene said.

Boulos Family Fitness Center
Aidan’s Climbing and Bouldering Wall
Margaret M. Crook Center and Whitmore-Mitchell Basketball Court
Marjorie Bither Administrative Suite
O’Neil Family Wellness Studios
O’Neil | O’Donnell Forum (ice arena) and Jack Kelley Rink
Papadellis Family Erg Room
Cerepak-Knight Room (overlooks O’Neil | O’Donnell Forum)
Hancock Room (overlooks Margaret M. Crook Center)
David F. O’Donnell Courtyard
Pugh Family Hospitality Room (overlooks Aquatics Center)
Richard R. Schmaltz Welcome Pavilion
Head Coach Offices
Jack Kelley Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach Office
1978 Men’s Lacrosse Team Head Coach Office
Mary Kay Whitmore P’91 Head Coach Office
Locker Rooms
Tom Austin Locker Room for Football and Lacrosse
Ferri Family Alpine and Nordic Skiing Locker Room
Matt Gaudet ’95 Men’s Basketball Locker Room
Smith Family Men’s Swimming and Diving Locker Room
Williams Family Women’s Swimming and Diving Locker Room
Williams Family Men’s Ice Hockey Locker Room
Outdoor Competition Centers
Bill Alfond Field
Coombs Field and the Baseball and Softball Complex
Mark R. Serdjenian Field
“Having a good training staff was important to me and my family and was a big part of my decision in coming to Colby.”
The promise of the Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center was one reason Head Women’s Soccer Coach Tracey Leone joined Colby in 2022. She has a 25-year career as a player and coach, including at the Division I level and at the highest levels of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
The ability to recruit the top prospective student athletes made her want to coach at Colby. Because coming to Colby meant she could be at her best, too.
“When they come here to see it, they can’t believe it,” Leone said. “But it’s not just the building. They see our teams in here all the time, and they see people coming and going all day long, and they understand it’s much more than a place for just athletes. It’s a brilliantly designed building that truly is for everybody.”

