Accelerate Sports
A regional vision becomes a precision-engineered reality when client, builder and Butler align on a clearspan, multiuse complex built for performance and reliability, serving a community that needed everything under one roof.
Project
Overview
Fred Burrows understood the challenge facing busy families in Whitesboro.
Activities pulled everyone in different directions, and local options could not keep pace. He saw the value of creating a single destination built to support every sport and every age group. That conviction drove the vision for Accelerate Sports.
Burrows had decades of development experience, and his long relationship with C2C Construction Solutions and their subsidiary, Gaetano Construction, a Butler Builder® based in Utica, made the next step clear.
He also knew the engineering demands would be significant, which made the Butler connection essential. He said that with Gaetano’s track record and the assurance of Butler systems, choosing the team was an easy decision.
Burrows’ experience across facilities statewide shaped a clear goal, and as he put it, “we could take the best elements of them all and put them under one roof.”
The project centered on a structural requirement few systems can meet: a clearspan large enough to house an unobstructed full-size soccer field and basketball courts. Butler and Gaetano engineered a custom structural system that delivered the necessary 155-foot span while maintaining speed, precision and long-term reliability.
Gaetano’s team described the effort as a coordinated process of custom engineering with Butler to establish the right support, the right sequence and the right pace. Their design-build expertise, combined with Butler’s engineering rigor, formed the backbone of the structure.
“We anticipated a few engineering challenges, and we knew that the Butler connection would be a vital part of the process, so it was a no-brainer for me,” Burrows said.
The mezzanine level demanded the same level of care. Butler engineers analyzed vibration performance for the suspended running track and refined the design to minimize bounce while supporting ceiling-mounted equipment, batting cages, pitching mounds and two full-size dividing nets. The result balanced structural performance with the functional needs of a high-traffic, multiuse facility.
We anticipated a few engineering challenges, and we knew that the Butler connection would be a vital part of the process, so it was a no-brainer for me.
“Provisions were also made in the framing for ceiling-mounted sports equipment such as the basketball backboards, as well as two full-size dividing nets for the indoor soccer field,” said Lucas Saltsman of Gaetano Construction.
Construction moved with purpose and wrapped in eight months.
Since opening, Accelerate Sports has become a constant presence in the community, used day and night by leagues, teams and families. The mission behind it remains unchanged.
“Now we can go to one place and don’t have to divide and conquer as often as in the past to get our kids to their activities,” Burrows said. “We don’t miss many events because they’re all at the same place, and we’re glad to provide that same opportunity for other families.”
This is what engineered assurance looks like when vision, partnership and precision align.
