University considers turning Chamberlain Field into library lawn

PDF: Proposal for Chamberlain Quad. The proposed academic building No. 4 will be the new library.

PDF: Conceptual site plan for a UTC Intramural Center at the site of old Engel Stadium.

If it weren’t for late-night Frisbee practice on the old football field in the heart of the UTC campus, Zachary Robbins said he may not have found his place as a transfer student in a sea of new faces.

Now a senior at UTC, Mr. Robbins said all of his closest friends were made on Chamberlain Field, currently a hub for campus intramural activities.

“Having Chamberlain Field on campus is really important,” he said. “I think one of the big reasons students come to schools is activities on campus.”

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is reviewing plans for a $48 million library to be built on the edge of Chamberlain Field and considering converting the field to green space.

Meanwhile, some students worry that options for on-campus activities could be eliminated.

Much of the building and design in and around the new 180,000-square-foot library is unknown.

However, Janet Spraker, director of engineering services at UTC, said the campus master plan calls for a green space to highlight the center of campus.

At two forums Monday at UTC, university officials and architects said they expect to see Chamberlain Field become the lawn of the library where students can meet and walk onto the terrace of a library cafe or study area.

The students, alumni and university faculty and staff also discussed solutions for the land surrounding Chamberlain Field and the possibility of acquiring privately owned land where some Greek organizations and campus ministries are located. They also talked about creating central campus green space.

Ms. Spraker said she understands frustrations over the lack of on-campus intramural and recreational space. Students have been promised more intramural space and are waiting for the old Engel Stadium, a site to be used for intramural fields, to be finished.

“We know we need a solution for campus,” she said. “One of the stumbling blocks to Chamberlain Field not being an athletic space is that there are not other intramural space.”

However, as UTC grows and requires more academic space, there is nothing to do but move student recreation and activities off campus, she said.

“We are landlocked,” she said. “Student life can’t be the top priority.”

Also, there are many students who don’t play intramural sports and would like to have a green study space in front of the new library, she said.

Though the university plans to have intramural space off campus at Engel Stadium, Amy Leffew, a junior business management major who attended the library forum, said she worries about what the new library will mean for campus activities.

“I think Chamberlain Field should be left the way it is, ” said Ms. Leffew, who plays intramural football.

Engel Stadium is too far from campus, and the distance will make it difficult to recruit students to participate in intramural sports, she said.

“It seems like they are trying to make everything academic and move everything else out,” Mr. Robbins said. “I think it is going to hurt school spirit and the basic morale of students.”