Courts still melting with no solution

By: Greg Gentile

Posted: 10/22/08

10/22/08 - The Mackal Field House basketball courts at the University of the Rhode Island are still "melting" with no cause or solution in the near future.

The problem is called "reversion," said Assistant Director of Athletic/Recreation Programs & Services Jodi Hawkins. Reversion means the matter that the court is made of has regressed to its previous form. In this case, the courts were originally made of melted polymers, which had hardened, but are now going back to that liquidated state.

However, the cause is still unknown.

"We're not sure yet," university Chemical Engineering Professor Michael Greenfield said.

Art Tuveson assistant director of Athletic Facility Management & Planning called Greenfield, a polymer expert, to see if he could solve the problem of the melting courts at Mackal.

Greenfield put his graduate class of nine students on the case to find a solution, but has not been able to come up with one yet. Though the cause has yet to be discovered, the students are still finding educational value in their project.

"It was good to be able to apply the methods we teach and use to a real world example here at the school," Greenfield said.

He tried to explain the process he believes is happening to the basketball court.

"You have to think about the floor like baking a cake," he said. "When the floor was poured it was like cake batter, and the molecules chemically changed to make it solidify. Well, now those molecules are somehow changing back."

"It's kind of cool being able to work on something that affects us," said fifth- year seniors Tolu Adenodi and Melissa Williams, both of whom have been working on the courts.

The melting spots have different colors. The darker areas are older, and full of dirt. The newer areas are a light cream color.

The Athletic Department has called in two different flooring companies in Rhode Island to look at the "melting" floors. The companies all had different answers to the question posed about the basketball courts, and their solutions to fix it were also different, said Hawkins.

Since the melting seems to keep spreading, it's tough to always be on top of it, Hawkins said. Students are stepping in the new spots and tracking the "gummy substance" across the floor in Mackal. Black footprints from students who have stepped in the softer areas of the court can be seen nearby the melting spots.

This is the second time the courts have had melting issues, Hawkins said. There was a whole section cut out and replaced last year.

Hawkins said it affects the wrestling team, cheerleaders, Ramettes and the track team, which all use the same area.

The Atlantic 10 track meets are held in Mackal throughout the indoor track season. The melting is right where the shot put is supposed to be thrown.

In attempts to stop or delay the spreading, plastic tarps are being thrown over the older areas and carpet over the newer, stickier areas. This limits the amount of students that can be on the courts at any one given time.

"It's embarrassing, and it keeps getting worse," Hawkins said.