Kendall Complex renovations underway and set to be complete in 2026

Photo courtesy of Juster Pope Frazier Architects

By Bei Jia Viggiano ’28

Sports Editor

Major Kendall Sports and Dance Complex renovations are underway at Mount Holyoke College. Following President Danielle Holley’s message to the community last May, this year will see Kendall undergo major redesigns and renovations of the gymnasium and locker room. Additionally, there are plans to renew and introduce equipment that will improve the experience of student-athletes.

Director of Athletics Andrea Ricketts-Preston said in an interview with Mount Holyoke News that the idea for the project pre-dated her employment at the College, but “at that time, it was in concept, it wasn’t in process.” This allowed time to consider the long-term effects of the project and revise the process for a greater impact.

The $6 million investment has been outlined in three phases: Phase 1A, Phase 1B and Phase 2. The process began on January 27, when some locker rooms and offices were closed and relocated for the purposes of renovation. Phase 1A commenced with construction impacting the men’s locker room, all-gender locker room, women’s staff locker room, basement offices, ergometer room and Kendall Multipurpose Room. During Phase 1B, which began in late February and will conclude in June, the upstairs gymnasium will be closed until completion. Phase 2 is scheduled from June 2025 to January 2026, when the varsity and women’s locker room, as well as the Field House Lounge, will be closed. In August 2025, the basement suite of locker rooms, the Multipurpose Room and the ergometer room will open. The project is set to be completed by January 2026.

“The original project didn't include a gym renovation,” Ricketts-Preston said. “It included some relocation of facilities here that at the end of the day, just didn’t really make sense from an accessibility standpoint.” Ricketts-Preston and Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Karla Youngblood FP ’99 reviewed the original plan and made revisions that resulted in “maximum impact across all of our sports and came in at a much cheaper price tag than the original plan, with a greater building impact,” Ricketts-Preston said. The gymnasium became a focal point of the project, with plans to have it completely renovated. Ricketts-Preston explained that the gymnasium has an “outdated, archaic setup” due to the nature of the courts and bleachers, and it was a “no-brainer” to include it in the project.

“It’s a 78-working days project to do the gym renovation. We’ll have bleachers on both sides, the basketball court will be centered, all the colors and branding will be on par, in alignment with all of our branding initiatives as it relates to Mount Holyoke in our athletic department.”

The locker room and offices in Kendall are also set for extensive renovations and redesign. “The entire space downstairs is being renovated to include three locker rooms, two offices and a new, updated rowing room, which will be really exciting,” Ricketts-Preston said. “And then upstairs, we’ll have faculty, staff locker rooms. We’ll have community space. We’ll have varsity locker rooms for all of our teams, and then we’ll also have an all-gender locker room for our Varsity student athletes, and we’ll have an all-gender locker room for our community members.” Ricketts-Preston added that she was especially proud of Mount Holyoke’s commitment to maintaining that aspect of the plan and “staying true to our mission, vision and values.”

While athletic equipment is set to be renewed to improve the student-athlete experience, Ricketts-Preston remarked on another significant piece of equipment that would be added to the gymnasium infrastructure. “This project is allowing us to put air conditioning in as part of the geothermal project, which is going to be very exciting,” Ricketts-Preston said. “From a community impact perspective, that will have a significant positive impact in our opportunity to hold camps and clinics in the summer, not only for the Mount Holyoke community, but for also the South Hadley and Pioneer Valley community.”

“So whether you're taking a beginning swimming class or you're taking Walking for Fitness, or you're taking an advanced level weight training class, our facilities will be improved for our community members to use,” Ricketts-Preston said. “That will mean that people [also] have a better experience when they're coming in and using our facility.”

Alayna Khan '27 contributed fact-checking.

Mount Holyoke Swimming and Diving wraps up the season

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics

By Gia Gu ’26

Sports Editor

Following four days of competition at the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Championship, Mount Holyoke Swimming and Diving has completed its 2024-25 season. While the team finished ninth out of 10 teams overall, they walked away from the conference with something more valuable: A season of breakthroughs, resilience and a sense of camaraderie.

Emotions ran high in the 400-yard freestyle relay. It was the final event of the championship, and this race marked the closing chapter of seven seniors’ college swimming careers. The results were the deciding factor that gave the Lyons the extra push needed to beat Clark University by just three and a half points.

“Everyone got super loud and excited, and our relays just did tremendously and everyone swam their hearts out, and we did end up beating Clark. It was fantastic and definitely something I'm going to remember from this season,” Katherine Upton ’28 said in an email to Mount Holyoke News.

“While we didn’t rank high in terms of scoring at NEWMACS, we had the third highest rate of personal bests at this meet,” Kaylee Barnett ’26 added in an email to Mount Holyoke News. 

In addition to the progress in the technique of their strokes, the mindset of the whole team has grown stronger over the season. “We had to adapt to a lot of challenges early in the season. Changing events, injury and illness [were] difficult at first, but by the end of the season and especially NEWMACs we had totally figured out how to deal with anything that was thrown our way. I’m super proud of our mindset of adaptability all season, and I think keeping that for next year will serve us well,” Upton said.

With the guidance of a mental performance coach, the team refined strategies to enhance mental resilience. “The team has an excellent mental performance coach, and we worked alongside her this season to maintain healthy strategies for pre-meet anxiety, meditation and visualization,” Molly Malloy ’26 said in an email to Mount Holyoke News.

The sense of community and connection with one another is something that sets the Lyons apart from other teams. “We know each other’s goals, and we celebrate one another when those goals are met,” Barnett said. “Something we do every meet is make motivational posters for each other, and post-meet we share why we are proud of the person we made the poster for. Our closeness as a team is something I haven’t experienced on other swim teams, and I think this really sets us apart from others.”

“I think we have the best energy of any team we competed against. We’re the most invested in each other, we feel the highs and lows together, we’re proud of each other no matter how the event went. It’s just a team where everyone wants to be there and everyone supports each other so much and I think it really makes a difference,” Upton remarked.

This spirit of camaraderie is not exclusive to swimming and diving; it radiates throughout the entire athletics department. “I think our athletics department has a sort of multi-team camaraderie that you wouldn’t necessarily find at other schools. Each team is assigned a ‘sister team’ at the beginning of the year, and once a season each team gets together and makes posters for/cheers on their sister team,” Malloy said.

The bonds extend beyond competition. The Lyons help each other with coursework, attend each other’s club events and create a strong network of support. “If someone needs a textbook for Calc-101, someone on the team will loan it to them. If someone's club is hosting an event, the team will show up. If someone is having a movie night — often they invite the team. It's a really beautiful way to continue forging connections outside of the pool,” Malloy added.

Looking ahead, the team will focus on self-improvement and steady progress rather than rigid goals. “My personal goal is to live in the present more, and enjoy the little things that I enjoy about my sport more. I would love to have more team bonding events in the future,” Zoey Zhu ’27 said in an email to Mount Holyoke News. 

“Both my goal and our team goal is always to do better than we did the previous season. For me, that looks like being more committed to working out during the off-season, and working more heavily on my technique,” Barnett said.

With the resilience they have formed and the deep connections they have built, the team is poised to return stronger, faster and closer than ever in the seasons ahead.

Alayna Khan '27 contributed fact-checking.