Convocation Center takes shape

THE GILBANE BUILDING COMPANY is the program manager for the new Convocation Center at the University of Rhode Island. The Convocation Center – expected to open between 2001 and 2002 — will be situated between the Tootell athletic/swimming center and the Meade Stadium football field. The 220,000 square-foot building will have a brick and masonry exterior, complementing the red brick exterior of Keaney Gymnasium. The facility will seat 8,000 for basketball games and other events. HOK Sport, a Kansas City architectural and engineering firm, is the architect on the project. HOK was recently tapped as the architect for the new Fenway Park in Boston, and is also the architect for Camden Yards stadium in Baltimore and Jacobs Field in Cleveland.