TABLE OF CONTENTS Commitment Community Access Page(s) 3-5 Children s Activities 5-6 Event Traffic 6 Maintenance and Safety 6 Construction 7 Lighting 7 Information 8 Monitoring and Reporting 8
This is the sixth annual Baker Field community-related activities report submitted in accordance with the April 18, 2011 Baker Field Agreement. This report covers the period of January 2017 through December 2017. As per Section 9 of the Baker Field Agreement, the commitments outlined in this report, unless otherwise noted, will be in effect through May 30, 2021. Any questions regarding this report should be directed to the Baker Field liaison, Sandra Harris, Assistant Vice President, Government and Community Affairs, email address: sh533@columbia.edu. 1. Community Access Muscota Marsh Access: The Marsh opened in early 2014 and operates consistent with the Dock Memorandum of Understanding signed between the University and New York City (NYC) Department of Parks and Recreation. Vehicles with permits issued by NYC Parks are permitted to utilize the existing western-most vehicular entrance on 218th Street for the purpose of loading and unloading small, non-motorized boats for dock usage. Public parking is not permitted at Muscota Marsh. Space Access Use: Columbia continues to provide space for community-based organizations of Northern Manhattan for community meetings, athletic or after-school activities at Baker Field in a manner consistent with current University practice and subject to availability. This year, 19 such uses of space occurred. Please see below for a sampling of e-mails received from community members who utilized the space: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Steve, Thank you so much for all you and your tremendous staff did metaphorically, and literally, in setting the table for allowing the Inwood Film Festival to be a tremendous success as a community building event through the arts. Everyone had nothing but wonderful things to say about the venue and were incredibly impressed that this asset is here in the Northern Manhattan community. I sincerely hope we can keep working together for future events. I'm attaching a copy of our program, in which you are singled out in our special thanks section. We couldn't have done it without you. Take care and I hope to see you around the neighborhood soon. Best, Aaron -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Gentlemen, I just wanted to thank you for hosting us on Friday. You were overly generous and so helpful and accommodating. It really made for a great day! And we won the game which helps! Hopefully we can keep this relationship going for future games. If there's anything you ever need on my end, please don't hesitate to call. Thank you again, Chris Page 3
Track Hours: Lawrence A. Wien Stadium track hours have been posted (see below) and the track has been open to the public consistent with the Baker Field Agreement. Complimentary Admission: Complimentary admission to all intercollegiate baseball, softball, men s soccer, women s soccer, men s tennis, women s tennis field hockey and women s lacrosse contests continues to be made available to the public. Visit http://www.gocolumbialions.com for intercollegiate schedules. Football Game Tickets: Columbia University continues to offer up to 3,000 free tickets to football games to community organizations. Northern Manhattan Neighbors Appreciation Day: On Saturday, September 16, 2017, Columbia provided complimentary admission to northern Manhattan residents for the Columbia University vs. Wagner College football game. Congressman Adriano Espaillat and Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa attended the event. Page 4
Support for Isham and Inwood Hill Parks: Columbia University, working with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, arranged for the City Parks Foundation (CPF), to administer the $300K community benefit fund. CPF is an organization that specializes in assisting community groups that do volunteer projects and sponsor programs in local parks. CPF has established the Inwood Parks Grant, which will provide awards ranging between $500 - $15,000 to community groups and nonprofit organizations for small NYC Parks-approved physical improvements, events, and programming in Inwood Hill, Muscota Marsh, and Isham Parks. To date, 30 community groups have been awarded grants. For more information, please visit: https://cityparksfoundation.org/grantsresources/ 2. Children s Activities Per the Baker Field Agreement, the programs in Section 2 will remain in effect until 2019; seven (7) years from the opening of the Campbell Sports Center (2012). Learn to Row: On December 13, 2017, Columbia University hosted a Learn to Row event at Muscota Marsh Park in Inwood to provide an introduction to rowing for 40 students from St. Mark the Evangelist School. Representatives from Harlem River Community Rowing and Row NY also attended and shared their expertise. Students were taken on a tour of the boathouse, shown all of the equipment, and taught how to use the rowing machines. Students were also given a presentation on the history of the sport and given information about rowing programs in the community. Page 5
Baker Field Camp Scholarships: Through a lottery held by Conservancy North, 33 S u m m e r C a m p S c h o l a r s h i p s w e r e a w a r d e d t o neighborhood children residing in zip codes 10032, 10033, 10034, and 10040. Of the 33 awards, only 29 scholarships were utilized. Service Learning Project: Completed in June 2013 Summer 2017 Camps Scholarships Utilized Baseball Camp 4 Soccer Camp 11 Little Lions 14 Total 29 ***Note: 33 scholarships were granted / 29 scholarships were utilized*** Junior Tennis Program: Columbia s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics continues to support the summer junior tennis program in local New York City parks. Community Impact: Columbia University, through the Baker Field Liaison, continues to encourage local organizations to submit applications for participation in Columbia affiliate Community Impact. Community Impact is a separate 501(c) (3) firm with its own staff and Board of Trustees. Double Discovery Program: Columbia, through the Baker Field Liaison, continues to notify local community and school groups, Community Board 12 and representatives of local elected officials and other community organizations about the Double Discovery Program to increase awareness of the program. 3. Event Traffic The University provides bus services from its Morningside campus to attend football games. University staff partnered with the New York-Presbyterian - Allen Hospital to park buses and vehicles at the Allen Hospital parking lot during football games. Shuttle bus companies have been directed to limit usage of 218 th Street for weekday athletic shuttle and football game day fan bus service. Passengers are dropped off and picked up on Broadway. Columbia University Public Safety personnel attend all Columbia Football games and work closely with Athletics to ensure driver compliance. 4. Maintenance and Safety For Muscota Marsh maintenance issues, contact Columbia Facilities Service Center (212-854-2222) For Muscota Marsh safety issues, contact Columbia Public Safety (212-305-8100) Page 6
5. Construction Construction of the Campbell Sports Center was completed in 2013. Muscota Marsh opened to the public in early 2014. During the construction phase, weekly construction updates for both projects were posted on the project websites and sent electronically to individuals who signed-up to receive them. Construction Awards / Recognition: Campbell Sports Center: o LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council o 2014 American Council of Engineering Companies New York Platinum Award o 2014 Building of the Year from the Architect s Newspaper o American Institute of Architects NY Design Honor Award and NY State Design Merit Award o The International Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design o Honored as 2013 Outstanding Project by the Greater New York Construction User Council New York o Best New Building from Municipal Art Society of New York on November 2013 Muscota Marsh: o Named among the 10 Best Places to Enjoy the Outdoors by Gothamist o Wins Award for Excellence in Design from the Public Design Commission of the City of New York Baker Athletics Complex o November 2015 The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) recognized Columbia University with a Grand Award in the Athletic Fields category of the Society s 2015 Green Star Awards program. For project information, please visit http://facilities.columbia.edu/baker-athletics-complexsports-center or http://facilities.columbia.edu/baker-athletic-complex. To learn more about awards, visit http://facilities.columbia.edu/awards. Columbia University completed construction on a seasonal air supported structure (SASS) over the existing Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Field at the Baker Athletics Complex in January 2017. This field and its bleacher seating are on the east side of the Baker Athletics Complex, just north of the Campbell Sports Center. A SASS is a dome membrane comprised of a double-skin layer of vinyl fabric that covers an open, outdoor space in order to create a temporary, climate-controlled and weather-protected facility. The project scope included site civil and infrastructure work, followed by the installation of a new artificial field turf and inflation of the SASS for use during the cold weather season. 6. Lighting: Lighting timers turn off all field lights at 10:30 p.m.; 7 days per week. Columbia University Facilities staffs a 24/7 Services Center (212-854-2222). Page 7
7. Information: The Baker Field Community Information Web page is available and can be accessed at http://www.gocolumbialions.com/bakerfield. 8. Monitoring and Reporting: Through the Baker Field Liaison, Columbia continues to share information at community board meetings. Additionally, the University posts information online for the public to access at http://www.gocolumbialions.com/bakerfield. Page 8