Picone Construction re-imagines recreational facilities

Picone Construction has finished converting a collegiate indoor swimming pool into 3,400 square feet of gym space at D’Youville College in Buffalo, N.Y.

Construction began on the D’Youville University pool conversion in fall 2021 and the majority of the project was completed by February 2022, said Picone Construction vice-president and director of operations, Christopher Picone.

“It was an unusual project since we were removing and in-filling an existing indoor swimming pool,” Picone added. “This was not a basic remodel project–it was a technical project. We have worked with the project designer, Silvestri Architects, many times, which is always helpful to have past beneficial working relationships.”

The pool, which was in university center and gymnasium on the first floor, had a shallow end and deep end with a width of 26 feet and length of 64 feet (totaling 1,664 square feet). The project cost $350,000 to complete and was privately funded by the university.

Picone Construction had already done small projects with the university for several years when they were approached to provide a quote on the conversion. The company then met with the school to go over their proposal, work plan, project schedule and other requirements before signing a contract.

Picone self-performed the project’s concrete and carpentry work while subcontractors assisted with demolition, electrical, HVAC, floor leveling, structural steel, acoustic panels and painting. The architect was Silvestri Architects, the structural engineer was Petrilli Structural & Consulting Engineering and the MEP engineer was EBS Engineering.

“The assumption was the pool was a typical poured system, like most inground pool construction,” Picone said. “Unfortunately, the pool was actually constructed with an in-ground metal wall panel system.”

The plan was to keep the assumed poured-in place existing pool bottom to use as support for structural steel framing columns. Since this was not the existing construction, the team poured concrete foundation inside the pool to support the new steel columns. Due to limited access—the building has a tight residential street on one side with only a walkway to a courtyard for access— they needed to pump all the concrete in.

After the removals were done, the large hole where the pool once sat became the next challenge.

“We protected the old pool opening with interior fencing since there was not enough room to work on the surrounding pool deck,” Picone said. “We could not do any ceiling work until the pool area’s structural steel deck and concrete slab were completed.”

Getting the lifts into the building was complicated due to access issues, but once they were in, the team was able to begin ceiling work, including hanging acoustic panels for noise reduction and aesthetics. The owner then put in all the athletic equipment and graphics.

Student sports teams started using the facility immediately after it was