The entrance to the Carol Roberts Field House is rather unassuming. The one entrance opens up to Central Avenue. It is one asphalt road with a sign smaller than a mini cooper and unimpressive. Across from this entrance is Cox Cage, the giant track facility, Tsai Center, the lacrosse and soccer facility, and the Yale Bowl. The buildings all have a similar color palate and an emphasis on glass windows. It is here that a rather large percentage of student-athletes take the Yale shuttles to attend practice every day. There is little foot traffic or visitors who come to this area of Yale.
Once one enters the gates toward Carol Roberts field house, they are made to walk around .2 miles to the facility. This walk is also rather unimpressive. On one side, the intermural field sits. On the other side, there is a large space where the Yale Armory used to lie. The Carol Roberts Field House is significantly removed from the rest of the athletic facilities. In fact, one of the largest problems with construction was getting the necessary plumbing to a location so far. Built after the fields were placed, the Carol Roberts Field House needed to be next to the fields. Yet, the field were designed away from the Armory, a building that has since been demolished. There are little to no neighbors to the Carol Roberts Field House. Surrounded by grass fields, the area around Carol Roberts is primarily used by intermural sports like soccer and flag football.
The Carol Roberts Field House is surrounded by trees. Because of this and its central location in the Yale fields, its relatively separated from the residential neighborhood. Yet, it is relatively close to quant houses nearby. The neighborhood contains family unit houses. The lights on the field and overall sound on the field is operated to ensure that this residential neighborhood is not disturbed. Circling the field in a car, one would not be able to tell the field is there. As seen in the 1973 Sanborn and the 2022 Google Map, the neighborhood has not changed with many structures staying exactly the same.
NA
The Carol Roberts Field House was built to be situated between the field hockey field and softball field. Before these were built, the field was empty, only having the Armory. Built in 1917, the Yale Armory was largely unused in its last decade. (Adieu). Yet, when in use, the building featured a large drill hill, a shooting range, and horse stables. In 2010, the building was deemed beyond repair and eventually removed in 2019. (Dickinson)
On one side of the Carol Roberts Field House, softball’s 5k Corral Field opened for its first game in 2001. The field, built closer to the trees, uses this backdrop to serve as a natural wind screen. The design was by architect Brian A. Ameche and built by Clark Construction Company. (Corral Field) Additionally, the field contains a fully enclosed press box and 350-seat stadium. Before 2018, the dirt and grass were replaced with field turf and bullpens, batting cages, outfield fences, and dugout were upgraded. A former Yale female athlete, Karen Yarasavage, was a major donor to the renovation. The installation of a new turf field was especially necessary as with their grass field, games would be regularly cancelled (in one year, 14 out of 48 games) due to temperate weather destroying the grass. Milone & MacBroom were the civil engineers and landscape architects for the turf. This installation coincided with the opening of the Carol Roberts Field House.
The Johnson Field was also opened in 2001. The field contains a 750-seat complex and a sports lighting system. This system was specially designed to accommodate its residential location, using glare and spill control to only light the field and not the surrounding areas. During 2000 to 2008, the Johnson Field also was used by the Yale Women’s Lacrosse team. In 2022, there were multi-million-dollar improvements to its facilities. (Johnson)These upgrades included a video scoreboard, spanning more than 35 feet long. The scoreboard was named after Lorraine Pratte Lewis, the Yale Field Hockey Association President and a former Yale Field Hockey alum. Additionally, a new turf field was installed with six automatic irrigation heads. (Rubin) Now, the Johnson Field is one of the most impressive field hockey facilities within the United States.
The Welcome Back Event in 2023 chose the Carol Roberts Field House as their location. The event coincides with a game, driving other student-athletes to support fellow Elis. With its observation deck and glassed structure, I knew that no matter the weather, the event could proceed. Hosting this event would draw a large crowd that would not have been possible just over five years ago. Before the Carol Roberts Field House, crowds would be forced to sit on dirt piles, hardly the location for a school-wide welcome back event. Additionally, the bathroom and nearest locker room was almost .5 miles away, thus creating an uncomfortable walk for athletes and audiences alike. The addition of this facility created an environment of increased attendance never before possible and symbolized an increase of attention on sports especially female.
Coeducation at Yale began in 1969. Almost instantly, women began to make themselves known in athletics. (50 years, 1) Although at first not offered organized athletics, eventually, field hockey, squash, and tennis were the first varsity sports. (50 years, 2) The granting of varsity status did not guarantee an equal playing field. Often times, early women would describe the field hockey field, covered with beer bottles from football games the nights before. Additionally, lack of resources led to an underreporting on female sports and harassment from other schools, as seen in the Princeton Yale field hockey game. (50 years, 2) Yet, women’s athletics prevailed with more teams being added. In 1980, field hockey won their first Ivy title and in 1993, softball won their first title. (50 years, 4) At times, women were performing significantly better than men, like in 1976 when women had the best-win loss record in the Ivy League. (50 years, 4)
The story of equality for women has often revolved around the locker room long before the Carol Roberts field house. Women’s crew staged a protest against their lack of adequate changing and shower facilities in 1976, leading to nationwide attention and an increase in facilities. After other complaints, locker rooms were expanded to Smilow, meant to address “the systemic inequities Yale Women’s team faced since their inception.” (50 years, 4) Carol Roberts Field House was the most extensive and impressive aspect of this addition.
The Carol Robert Field House was largely funded by Carol Roberts, who donated four million of the six million dollars needed for the creation. (Longman) Carol Roberts, during her time at Yale, played on the field hockey and softball team, winning an Ivy League championship in both. She eventually ascended the corporate ladder to lead the Weyerhaeuser’s packaging business, winning her the George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award in 2009. (George H.W. Bush) Thinking back at her time at athletic facilities, Carol Roberts would chuckle, reminiscing that both the softball and field hockey team shared on portable toilet. (Longman) Now, the field hockey and softball have access to numerous bathrooms and a plethora of other resources.
Her donation follows a trend seen throughout many colleges athletic programs. Victoria Chun, the first female athletic director at Yale, states that she saw a drastic increase of female athletes reaching out. (Longman) The director of athletics at Indiana echoed this sentiment. This increase in philanthropy seems to be due to an increase in funds from women as they were able to acquire higher paying jobs. The Carol Roberts Field House symbolizes a moment of regaining power within the athletic community for female athletes that has been long overdue.
The entrance to the Carol Roberts Field House is rather unassuming. The one entrance opens up to Central Avenue. It is one asphalt road with a sign smaller than a mini cooper and unimpressive. Across from this entrance is Cox Cage, the giant track facility, Tsai Center, the lacrosse and soccer facility, and the Yale Bowl. The buildings all have a similar color palate and an emphasis on glass windows. It is here that a rather large percentage of student-athletes take the Yale shuttles to attend practice every day. There is little foot traffic or visitors who come to this area of Yale.
Once one enters the gates toward Carol Roberts field house, they are made to walk around .2 miles to the facility. This walk is also rather unimpressive. On one side, the intermural field sits. On the other side, there is a large space where the Yale Armory used to lie. The Carol Roberts Field House is significantly removed from the rest of the athletic facilities. In fact, one of the largest problems with construction was getting the necessary plumbing to a location so far. Built after the fields were placed, the Carol Roberts Field House needed to be next to the fields. Yet, the field were designed away from the Armory, a building that has since been demolished. There are little to no neighbors to the Carol Roberts Field House. Surrounded by grass fields, the area around Carol Roberts is primarily used by intermural sports like soccer and flag football.
The Carol Roberts Field House is surrounded by trees. Because of this and its central location in the Yale fields, its relatively separated from the residential neighborhood. Yet, it is relatively close to quant houses nearby. The neighborhood contains family unit houses. The lights on the field and overall sound on the field is operated to ensure that this residential neighborhood is not disturbed. Circling the field in a car, one would not be able to tell the field is there. As seen in the 1973 Sanborn and the 2022 Google Map, the neighborhood has not changed with many structures staying exactly the same.
Carol Roberts Field House can be hard to look at on incredibly sunny days. Its white precast concrete foundation creates the building and its blinding quality. Because of this, it has a very blocky outline. Walking up the building, there are two clear divides. There are large sweeping steps, inviting the crowd to their seats and the upper level. On the lower level, there are two bathrooms, and an understated door with a clear scan needed to enter. Thus, the architecture design of Carol Roberts Field House is divided from the first and second floor.
The first floor contains a locker room, training room, satellite coaches’ office, and team meeting space. Yet, the design of this level is very simplistic. Its pre-cast concrete is clearly visible as one walks its halls. It is not meant to be ornate, instead, it looks like the inside of a warehouse. Work is meant to be completed here. Discussing this aspect with the architects, they stated that this divide was intentional. An outsider was not meant to wander into the lower levels and assume this was meant for them. Building women’s locker rooms, the architects wanted to create deterrents for wandering eyes, thus creating a slightly less hospitable environment for outsiders. This separation and protection for the females was one that took more concern than had previously been incorporated in other athletic structures. Yet, this cold structural design was met some pushback just last year with new stickers (such as a giant Y) being added onto the walls.
On the other hand, the upper level demands an audience. Each part of the structure is well thought out to create a superb audience experience. The top is an observation roof deck, divided into two sections. One side is facing the softball field, the 5K Corral Field, and the other faces the Johnson Field for field hockey. In the middle is a glass-walled event space, meant to augment the viewer’s experience in moments of extreme weather. This contains a metal stud framing with mostly stucco and masonry elements, following the design from downstairs. Aluminum frames outline each window. Yet, the windowed walls are able to be pulled back on cooler days. Above the building is a canopy made of fabric with steel frame. This too was built to shield the viewer from the elements, specifically rain and sun.
Overall, Carol Roberts looks strikingly similar to many other athletics facilities. This aesthetic choice was purposefully done by Yale administration. They took borrowed similar color tones and material (like the precast concrete) that had been used at Reese, the baseball facility, and Tsai. They overall wanted the buildings to be similar to a masonry unit, strong and fortified. The Yale administration did not want the first women’s athletic space to be completely unique, emphasizing their desire to create an equal playing ability even down to the color tones.
Yet, the Carol Roberts Field House is uniquely created for its situation. When the architects were approached, the field hockey and softball field were already built. Thus, they were building within a confined space (as seen by the sketch). The architects added specific design qualities to match this specification. For example, the side facing softball has a graceful curve echoing the outfield’s sweep. The field hockey size has straight lines and right angles mirroring a field hockey field’s sharp outline. (Johnson Field) Additionally, the architects acknowledged their distance from the road. Besides making construction and plumbing difficult (as there was distance to overcome), the architects focused on how the building would look from afar, especially against the forest background. They decided to make the tin of the roof shaded, thus catching one’s eye as they drive by. At the same time, they built this facility away from any borders and made this eye-catching element only available to those driving from the other Yale athletic facilities (on Central Avenue). These actions were done to not disturb the neighborhood surrounding Carol Roberts field house.
KG-D was the architectural company behind the building with Walter Hauser being the lead architect. (KG+D) He worked with Jeremy Powell as his liaison in the Yale administration. The canopy was installed by Pviliion. (Women’s Field House Canopy) Alumni, especially Carol Roberts, were loosely involved, although this communication went through Yale administration and little pushback was received.
“50 Years of Women’s Varsity Athletics at Yale: A Historic Retrospective.” Yale University Library, 2019, onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu/s/50-years-of-women-s-varsity-athletics-at-yale-a-historic-retrospective/page/welcome.
“5K Corral Field At DeWitt Family Stadium.” Yale University, yalebulldogs.com/facilities/5k-corral-field-at-dewitt-family-stadium/9. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.
“Adieu to the Armory.” Light & Verity | Yale Alumni Magazine, yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/4851-adieu-to-the-armory. Accessed 6 Oct. 2023.
Dickinson, Duo. “Duo Dickinson: The Yale Armory Is No More - New Haven Register.” New Haven Register, 3 Jan. 2019, www.nhregister.com/news/article/Duo-Dickinson-The-Yale-Armory-is-no-more-13506555.php.
“George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award: Carol Roberts.” Yale University, 2019, yalebulldogs.com/honors/george-h-w-bush-lifetime-of-leadership-award/carol-roberts/33.
Hauser, Walter, and Jeremey Powers. “Interview with Head Architect of Carol Roberts.” 3 Oct. 2023.
Longman, Jeré. “A Welcome Funding Source for College Athletics: Women Investing in Women’s Sports.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/sports/women-donations-college-athletics.html.
Rubin, Sam. “New Field Hockey Video Scoreboard Named after Lorraine Pratte Lewis ’78.” Yale University, Yale University, 4 Aug. 2022, yalebulldogs.com/news/2022/8/4/new-field-hockey-video-scoreboard-named-after-lorraine-pratte-lewis-78.aspx.
“Womens Field House Canopy at Yale.” International Achievement Awards, 12 Sept. 2019, iaa.textiles.org/awards/281769/.
“Yale University, Carol Roberts Field House.” KG+D Architects, 2018, kgdarchitects.com/yale-university-womens-field-house/.
1973 Sanborn Map, Vol 4, 490
Researcher
Rachel Brown
Date Researched
Entry Created
N/A Date
Last Updated
N/A Date
Historic Name
Style
Contemporary
Current Use
Era
1980-Today
Neighborhood
Westville
Tours
Year Built
2018
Architect
KG-D
Current Tenant
NA
Roof Types
Flat
Structural Conditions
Street Visibilities
Yes
Threats
None known
External Conditions
Dimensions
5,900 square feet
Street Visibilities
Yes
Owner
Yale
Ownernishp Type
Yale
Client
Carol Roberts mostly paid (the alumnus who the building is named after raised four million of the six million dollars) with the rest of the funding coming from alumni. Carol Roberts Field House was commissioned by Yale