Drexel has made its sports bubbles available to the city, if needed, to assist with the pandemic response.
If you visited Drexel’s University City Campus this past winter, then you probably saw — and remember — the “bubbles.”
Two very hard-to-miss massive gray domes were inflated over the three tennis courts at Vidas Athletic Complex and the turf field at Buckley Recreational Field during the winter months in the 2019–2020 academic year.
Equipped with climate control, LED sports lighting and transparent roofs that let in daylight, the bubbles have expanded Drexel Athletics’ programming sports season. Throughout last winter, that meant more playing time at the Vidas bubble for the men’s and women’s tennis teams, and everything from softball to Quidditch to soccer to flag football under the larger Buckley Bubble.
When inflated, the 20,000- and 30,000-square-foot, respectively, bubbles are among the biggest venues on campus. The University has offered them to Philadelphia as emergency space in the pandemic fight, if needed.
They were made possible thanks to Jackie and Stan Silverman as well as Marlene and Bob Buckley, who provided leadership gifts through the Campaign for Drexel.
