Construction on the gift-funded Kimsey Athletic Center will begin the week of February 12 and that could cause an impact on travel around Michie Stadium.

"The stretch of Stony Lonesome Road between Mills Road and Holleder Sports Center intersections will be closed to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic," said U.S. Military Academy Directorate of Housing and Public Works project manager Bob D’Jovin.

He explained that the contractor, J. Kokolakis Constructing Inc. of Rocky Point, N.Y., which recently completed work on both the new post exchange and Gray Ghost housing here, will start installing construction limit fencing, detour signage and construction trailers during the week of February 12.

D’Jovin said Phase I of the project is expected to be completed in January 2003.

James V. Kimsey, a 1960 USMA graduate and founder of America Online Inc., is the lead donor of the $26 million project.

"We are very excited about entering the construction phase for Kimsey Athletic Center," Army football coach Todd Berry said.

"The center will contain the cutting-edge technologies associated with the training and teaching of today’s ‘blue-chip’ athletes," he continued. "It will be a tremendous recruiting vehicle for West Point and the Army football program."

The project will be completed in two phases. Phase II, Randall Hall, has yet to be fully funded and will be built under a separate contract, according to D’Jovin.

The four-story Kimsey Athletic Center will house five Army varsity sports: football, hockey, lacrosse and men’s and women’s basketball. It will also include facilities for use by all of Army’s 25 varsity sports.

The new complex will feature a 20,000-square foot strength and development center. The current facility is less than 6,000 square feet.

New home and visiting locker rooms are also planned.

The third floor will have a Hall of Army sports, with the Blaik Gallery as the focal point, D’Jovin said.

A multi-purpose room will sit atop the complex and comprise most of the fourth floor. Open-air balconies will wrap around both sides of the multi-purpose room.

Other related construction scheduled to begin in and around Michie Stadium in the near future will be the replacement of the artificial turf this summer and a bypass road north of the stadium to be constructed beginning in May.

Blaik Field will be re-sodded with "synthetic infill turf," according to D’Jovin, similar to what Conference USA foe Cincinnati had installed before the 2000 season.

"It will be a mixture of sand and ground-up rubber," he added.

D’Jovan expects the Blaik Field contract, which is now being advertised for proposal, to be awarded sometime in April with construction beginning June 4, 2001, the Monday after graduation.

The Stony Lonesome road bypass project will be a phased effort that will connect Stony Lonesome at Delafield roads with Mills Road at Lusk Reservoir, D’Jovin said.

Work on Phase I is expected to begin May 1, 2001, and be completed by March 2002. Delafield Road at Stony Lonesome Road will be closed during Phase I and will only be open for service vehicles during winter months, he explained.

D’Jovin said Phase I would consist of work in the woods north of Michie Stadium.

Phase II work is expected to begin March 2002 and run until September 2002. For Phase II, Stony Lonesome Road may be reduced to one lane of traffic and Mills Road at Lusk Reservoir will be closed to all traffic. Traffic will be rerouted along Cullum and Thayer Roads.

Work is expected to be done by the beginning of the 2002 football season, D’Jovin explained.