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From
Dream To Reality |
| In 1988, Associate Dean Harry West
recognized that the current City College physical education building
(P-building) was inadequate. The building did not have a regulation
gymnasium, the number of badminton and volleyball courts were limited,
and the locker rooms could not accommodate the number of students
enrolled in PE classes. The average square footage per headcount for
City College was 1.8, far below the state average of 2.89. In his quest
to provide greater physical education opportunities to our widely
diverse student population, Harry pursued his vision to increase the
variety and quantity of physical education and intercollegiate sports
offered by City College. With help from City College President, Jean
Atherton, Facilities Director, Damon Schamu, and Chancellor Wenrich,
Harry was successful in getting the first set of plans for an Indoor
Physical Education Facility (IPEF) submitted to the state in 1990. Unfortunately, the state did not
recommend the funding of the IPEF plans. However, the San Diego
Community College District was not discouraged by the state's rejection
of the proposal. Instead, the new Chancellor, Augie Gallego, and City
College President, Jerry Hunter, elected to revise the plans and
re-submitted them to the state. The persistence of the SDCCD prevailed
and in 1999, the state approved the construction of the IPEF.
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| Amenities |
| The Harry West Gymnasium is located south
of the current P-building and addresses all the inadequacies associated
with the current P-building. The new HWG provides three regulation
basketball courts, six badminton courts, and three volleyball
courts. Team rooms are provided for both the men's and women's
intercollegiate teams. The larger locker rooms will accommodate the
increasing number of enrolled students. New faculty offices,
concessions, and ticket office are located on the mezzanine, which
also includes fitness and reception areas. Since the Harry West Gymnasium can
accommodate up to 2,000 spectators, there is a potential to host
tournaments and other revenue generating activities. This will be be
accomplished through ticket sales for athletic events, revenue from
concessions, and rental of the facility to outside groups.
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| Services |
| Activity classes to be offered in the new
gymnasium include adaptive physical education, aerobics, badminton,
basketball, individual conditioning, volleyball, and martial arts. Plans
are in the works to hold volleyball, basketball, and badminton
tournaments. A return to offering women's intercollegiate basketball and
intramural activities for the general student body population is also
projected to occur. Community service activities and programs along with
other City College special events will also be held in the new
gymnasium. |
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New
Indoor Physical Education Facility Named for Harry West |
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On September 23, 2004, the
Board of Trustees approved a City College recommendation that the
new Indoor Physical Education Facility be named the Harry West
Gymnasium in memory of the late Athletic Director who envisioned
and championed the building. Himself an alumnus of City College,
West returned in 1961 as assistant football coach, and went on to
serve the college as Head Football Coach, Athletic Director and
Associate Dean before retiring in 1991. The football teams he
coached were among the most successful in the history of the
college. A dedicated teacher and coach, West was noted for
following the progress of his former students long after they left
City College.
West was instrumental in bringing
the National Youth Sports Program to campus some 16 years ago; the
program continues to serve 300 young people each summer.
In 1993 West was inducted into the
California Community Colleges Football Hall of Fame. He remains
the only person to have been inducted in both the categories of
"Coach"-- where the candidate's "efforts and leadership [have]
motivated and inspired young men who have been under his tutelage
to reach higher in their pursuit of lofty goals."-- and "Service
Contributor," requiring demonstrated efforts to improve and
enhance the quality of community college athletic competition, and
involvement in the community.
In 2004 the California Community
College Athletic Directors Association gave West a posthumous
award for outstanding contributions to community college
athletics. The Harry West Golf Tournament is an annual college
fund raiser for scholar-athlete scholarships.
Recognizing that the college's
indoor physical education facilities were not adequate and the
basketball court was not regulation for intercollegiate athletics,
West worked tirelessly to get the first set of plans for a new,
larger facility submitted to the state. It took many more years of
planning and resubmission of plans for state construction funds to arrive, but
the new Harry West Gymnasium finally opened its doors on October
1, 2005 as it hosted the 1st Annual SDCC Volleyball Tournament.
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