Providing Students with a State-of-the Art Facility Clustered on the northeast end of campus along New Gulph Road, the 48,000 square-foot Athletic Center, opened in fall 2008, provides all Baldwin girls with state-of-the-art facilities, enabling them to pursue their athletic goals and improve their overall health and fitness.
The Athletic Center incorporates the following:
Six-lane swimming pool with spectator balcony
One-and one-half basketball/volleyball court with spectator bleachers
Four International Squash Courts
Dance and Aerobics/Yoga Studio
3,000 two-story Fitness Center
Performance and Meeting Space
Three-Lane Indoor Jogging Track
Entrance Lobby and Hall of Fame
Athletic Training Room
Locker Rooms
Offices
Five Tennis Courts
New Bermuda Grass Playing Field
Interactive Playground
Historical Integrity
Designed by the Washington, DC architectural firm of Bowie Gridley Associates in conjunction with the athletic program-planning firm of Brailsford & Dunlavey, also from Washington D C, the new center captures the historical integrity of the Baldwin campus while providing the school community with a beautiful facility that enables all students to participate fully in an outstanding athletics and physical education program. The brick, stone and glass exterior of the center are compatible aesthetically with other structures on campus, articulating elements of the Victorian style of the historic Residence building, formerly the Bryn Mawr Hotel, designed by Furness and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Eco-Friendly
Concerned with the environmental impacts of a new building, the Baldwin Athletic Center incorporates several eco-friendly design and construction initiatives, including solar reflectance roofing, the use of regionally extracted materials, the installation of Energy Star equipment and appliances, and an indoor air quality management system.
Why It's Important
According to the National Women’s Sports Foundation, research has demonstrated that girls who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self esteem and lower levels of depression.Girls who play sports have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological well being than girls and women who do not play sports.In sports, boys learn about teamwork, goal setting and critical skills necessary for success in the workplace.Our daughters must be as prepared for the highly competitive workplace as our sons. It is no accident that 80% of the female executives at Fortune 500 companies identified themselves as girls who had played sports. High school girls who play sports are more likely to get better grades in school than girls who do not play sports. Forty percent of women over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis (brittle bones). (Osteoporosis, 1996)
Girls should not have to repeat the experiences of generations of women who were not permitted to play sports or encouraged to participate in weight-bearing exercises, which play key roles in establishing bone mass. Also, a teenage girl's risk of breast cancer may be reduced by as much as 60% by as little as four hours of exercise a week; breast cancer is a disease that afflicts one out of every eight American women. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1994)