Briggs Cage Doors Open After Five-Month Delay

The sound of bats cracking and fastballs exploding into mitts marked the opening of Briggs Cage for spring practice yesterday, five months later than the scheduled completion of its $2.5 million renovation.

But as baseball players got a feel for the bright green astroturf, clamor from power tools reminded all that final work on the buildings will not end until mid-April.

Because of construction strikes last summer and problems with the project's design. Harvard's basketball teams--which will be the building's chief tenants--could not move into Briggs Cage as planned last November. Instead, they spent their 51st year in the Indoor Athletic Building.

Briggs Cage's new interior features retractable bleachers on all four walls, a new skylight roof, refurbished offices and locker rooms, and, of course, the basketball floor.

However, 16,000-square-foot astroturf, which can be mechanically retracted in half in hour to convert the Cage for basketball, most impressed baseball players yesterday.

"I miss my brown spit," said left-fielder Paul Scheper '82, referring to problems caused by the dusty floor in the old Briggs.

"We walked in here and we were in awe," he added. "I think it's great day in Harvard athletics."

The astroturfs brillant green surface and black partitioning nets--which divide the cage into four areas--enable players to follow airborne balls better, while the inch-thick carpet provides a more reliable bounce than did the dirt floor, Paul A. Chicarello '82, a designated hitter, said yesterday.

Briggs Cage will host its first ever basketball game November 26 during the women's thanksgiving tournament. Dedication ceremonies are scheduled for the December 22 men's game against Stanford, Eric Cutler '40, sports scheduling director, said yesterday.

Built in 1927. Briggs has housed the indoor track teams, as well as early-season workouts for baseball, lacrosse and football. In 1977 the track program moved into the Indoor Track and Tennis Facility, while the other teams continued to use Briggs until construction shut it down last winter.

Work remaining on Briggs Cage includes cleaning up, furnishing locker rooms and installing fixtures, construction foreman William Whitney said yesterday.