Kendall Sports & Dance Complex renovations are underway

Mount Holyoke College has embarked on a significant renovation of the Kendall Sports & Dance Complex that aims to modernize the facility so it better meets the needs of student-athletes and the wider College community.

Originally constructed in 1950 and expanded in 1984 and 2009, the Complex spans more than 115,000 square feet and serves as the central hub for the College’s indoor athletic and recreational activities. Renovation work, which started in January 2025, will be completed in several phases with a projected finish date of January 2026.

This renovation is part of the overall MHC Forward strategic plan. One of the plan’s four priorities is “enhancing the student experience,” which includes the initiative to “shape an athletics program to recruit first-rate, talented scholar-athletes with competitive programs and facilities.”

Andrea Ricketts-Preston, Mount Holyoke’s director of athletics and chair of physical education, called the current construction “controlled chaos” and described it as “beautifully messy.”

A major focus of the renovation project’s current phase is the complete overhaul of the Kendall Complex’s locker rooms, which have remained unchanged since the 1950s.

“We’re going to gut everything from our existing locker rooms,” Ricketts-Preston said. “The men’s and women’s staff locker rooms, the varsity locker room, the general locker room and our all-gender space will all be completely gutted and redone.

“In [their] place, we’ll have two new faculty-staff locker rooms. We’ll have an all-gender varsity student-athlete locker room. We will have varsity team rooms for all of our teams. We’ll have a community all-gender space and a community women’s locker room.”

Additionally, there will be a dedicated space for a varsity student-athlete lounge. The lounge in the Mount Holyoke Field House will also be revamped with updated lighting, carpet and furniture.

The current phase of renovations also includes the reconfiguration of the Complex’s basement, which houses two offices and the rowing room. After renovations, the basement will have visiting team locker rooms, a swing space locker room for student-athletes whose sports are not in season and dedicated locker rooms for club sports.

The Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium will also be overhauled in this phase. Construction will begin in early March, and Bardee Sadlier, senior associate director of athletics for facilities, can’t wait.

“It’ll be such a better experience for fans and also the teams,” Sadlier said. The gymnasium’s floor will be sanded and repainted, allowing the basketball court to be moved to the gym’s center and bleachers to be installed on both sides.

The renovation project will also include accessibility enhancements, such as making team and public restrooms and showers accessible and modifying the stairwells.

Students were involved in the planning process. Cal Smith ’26, from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and previous tennis co-captain, said that students were invited to suggest alterations to the renovations to better accommodate their needs.

“Over the summer, the Executive Board of SAAC was able to meet with Andrea and discuss how the renovations were going,” Smith said. “Kamlyn Yosick ’25, who was our secretary for the Board last year, is on the swim team. She said, ‘Oh, it's actually really important for the swim team to have a communal space to shower, because we all shower in our bathing suits at the end of practice and that’s a big time where we are able to talk to each other and talk about practice and just hang out — since we can’t really talk in the pool.’”

The plans were altered to create a more open floor plan for the swim room. Smith said that the basketball and volleyball teams were also encouraged to give their input on what the court would look like.

Sophie Allen ’26, from Lopez Island, Washington, is on the swim team and is the secretary of SAAC. She recently participated in a meeting with other student-athletes to discuss changes to the locker rooms.

“There was a group of student-athletes together on Zoom, and we were talking about little things like, ‘should the [bathing] suit dryer go here?’ [and] ‘Realistically, if I were to walk into a room, where would I go first?’ — we were just discussing small adjustments like that,” she said. “And then about a week ago, SAAC met and we were asked what color for the lockers would be best.”

Allen believes the renovations will bring Kendall Sports & Dance Complex on par with other Mount Holyoke College competitors.

“I think the renovations put us up there with some other teams that have great facilities because we have a great pool [and] we have new turf. I think that really upping the locker rooms and the layout of the building can match the level of those facilities,” she said. “Athletics is taking charge. They’re leveling up — there’s actual physical change happening. I like to see concrete proof.”

“It’s great to see that the Athletics department is continuing to try to upgrade our space,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to be really good for recruiting and for general hype around athletics. It’s awesome to see.”

“I hope our student-athletes feel a renewed sense of investment from campus to have a space that is on par with our peers competitively,” Ricketts-Preston said. “They’re going to walk into a space that I don’t think anyone could have imagined that we would have here. Not only is it going to look different, it’s going to feel different.”

This renovation work is also key to Be Well, the College’s holistic wellness program.

“Mount Holyoke College is committed to wellness through significant renovations to the Kendall Sports & Dance Complex,” Ju Young Hong, director of Be Well, said. “Updating our athletic center enhances the student experience, improves physical and mental health [and] strengthens community engagement. By aligning with the strategic plan, the renovation of our athletic center is an investment in our students’ overall wellness.”

Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Karla Youngblood FP’99 revealed that both the cost and timeline for the Complex’s renovation were significantly reduced thanks to Ricketts-Preston.

“This project is an example of a simple and restrained approach to achieving programmatic goals,” Youngblood said. “The original design was costly and disruptive to adjacent spaces, but under Andrea’s leadership, the scope was refined, is less costly and provides a facility that serves as an example of the College’s commitment to elevate the athletic program.”

As the renovations continue, Ricketts-Preston keeps her eyes on the prize, as any dedicated athlete would.

“I mean, the more inconvenience [caused] by this the better,” she said, “because it just means that something really good is happening on the other side.”