Super Bowl Throwback: Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center

Constructed as a joint venture between Browning and Davis & Associates as part of the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee’s Legacy Project, the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center is a community project, developed for the John H. Boner Community Center and located on the Arsenal Technical High School campus.  Completed in December 2011, this facility represents the first to be constructed prior to the actual Super Bowl game and utilized 25% MBE/WBE contractor participation.

The $11.5M, 27,000 square foot facility is LEED Gold certified and contains a fully equipped fitness area and gymnasium, an NFL-rated football field (utilized for practices prior to the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI by the NFC Divisional Champion team), NFL Youth Education Town, and a 1,000 square foot greenhouse.

LEED Certification.

This high-profile community project exhibits excellent architecture that exceeded the user requirements of LEED Silver by focusing not only on functionality and efficiency of layout, but by utilizing a progressive architecture, a sustainable construction approach, and LEED design components (including high-efficiency nano-gel glass, a white TPO roof and a green roof, a geothermal HVAC system, gray water reclamation, low-maintenance landscaping, and high-efficiency lighting) to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Partnership & Collaboration to Break New Ground.

Twelve local, non-profit organizations provided over 260 hours per week of organized community education and fitness programs for the neighborhood youth, families, seniors, and residents upon opening the center. These programs utilize the full-service fitness facility, state-of-the-art media studio, mobile computer lab, educational greenhouse and garden plots, instructional kitchen, and art studio.

The success of this project, from the initial project vision to financing and fundraising to design to construction, represents an excellent example of collaboration across multiple firms and between individuals to come together to construct a neighborhood community asset and Browning was proud to be part of Breaking New Ground.