Doc Odell Track Renovation and Revitalization Project

King “Doc” Odell, Jr. was a teacher, advisor, mentor, coach, colleague, friend, and confidant to thousands of students, faculty, staff, and parents alike. Doc came to Moses Brown in 1953, initially teaching geography to grades six through eight. He served as the chair of the world language department for four decades, lived in the dorms for 20 years, and was head of the boarding department for 16 years.  

Additionally, Doc served as the head winter track coach from 1964 to 1997 and the head varsity coach of cross-country and spring track from 1964 to 2004. Under his leadership, the teams achieved three Rhode Island Interscholastic League Winter Championships, 22 New England Prep School Track Association Winter Championships, eight New England Cross-Country Championships, 14 spring New England Track Championships, three victories at the Peddie School Relays, and a second-place finish at the Prep School Mile Relay of America at the Penn Relays. For six years, Doc served as head of the New England Prep School Track Association, creating divisions which remain to this day. It comes as no surprise that in 2000, Doc was inducted into the MBAA Hall of Fame. 

The track revitalization project is part of the school’s continuing responsibility to steward its facilities and 33-acre campus. The current track was installed more than 23 years ago and is well beyond its expected useful life of 15-18 years.

A new Doc Odell Track is among the final steps in the school’s last decade-long facility master plan, which included an ambitious vision to remake the east side of the MB campus. Extensive upgrades and expansions have been made, including: a Community Garden (2016), installation of a new turf field (2020), total renovation and expansion of the Lower School (2022), Max Mann ’08 Scoreboard (2023), and new upper and lower playgrounds, spectator seating, press box, and the Taleghani Alumni Terrace (2023). These projects represent more than $13 million in upgrades to key academic, athletic, outdoor recreation and play, and community gathering spaces. In light of these enhancements and additions to the east side of campus, the track replacement is a natural next step in the stewardship and enhancement of our facilities. 

The Doc Odell Track renovation and revitalization project includes a full replacement of the foundation and installation of a Rekotan sandwich system and Advanced Polymer Technology (APT) track surface built to NCAA specifications. The project cost reflects the results of a competitive bidding process and research on the final cost of similar projects in our region. Beyond the track replacement itself, the project also includes:

• Rebuilt long-jump and triple-jump pits and total resurfacing of two jumps areas at both ends of the track including new equipment (high jump and pole vault pits, hurdles)
• Installation of a permanent safety netting system at both ends of the turf field to protect students using the track during field hockey and lacrosse practices
• A new walkway halfway around the track to meet ADA accessibility requirements
• Electrical infrastructure to support future plans for field lighting
• Extensive tree planting and landscaping along the Weymouth Street side of the field to provide an improved visual and sound barrier for our neighbors
• New 72” chain link fence along Weymouth Street to enhance security
• Drainage system upgrades to accommodate the change in surfacing with the playgrounds and spectator seating

With today’s improved technology, total life expectancy is 18-25 years. In 12-14 years, Moses Brown will need to resurface the top layer of the track, which will add another 7 - 10+ years of useful life.  

The innermost three lanes of the track continue to be used by our track and field and cross country athletes and the full MB community. These lanes are currently being used in class offerings, athletic practices, and by community members. MB also has an indoor track in the Waughtel-Howe Field House and our track teams have been able to access the Hope High School track right across Hope Street as specific needs have arisen. 

No, this project is not fully funded. At Moses Brown and almost all independent schools, significant capital projects and improvements are funded through philanthropic contributions (or debt, which then must be repaid using tuition funds or other sources of income that could be dedicated to academic and co-curricular programs). Through the generosity of a lead gift from the estate of Doc Odell in January 2024 and other members of the MB community, $1.4 million has been committed toward the $3.5 million total project cost.  

The majority of Moses Brown School’s $49M endowment (over 75%) is comprised of donations from donors who dedicated (or restricted) the use of income from their funds to areas such as scholarship, academic and co-curricular programs, faculty professional development, and educational student travel and immersion experiences. 

Annually, Moses Brown distributes 4.5% of the endowment to support the operating budget. This spending policy is consistent with industry standards, helps to guard against short-term market fluctuations, and is in place to maintain the financial health of the school.

MB has developed plans to install field lighting for the Doc Odell Track and Campanella Field. The lights project is dependent on both additional fundraising (beyond the $3.5 million cost of the current renovation and revitalization project) and requisite approvals from the City Planning Commission. MB continues to partner with our neighbors, developing plans to mitigate the impact of recent and future development of our athletic facilities on the neighborhood. Timing of field lighting installation is uncertain. At the same time, it is optimal—in terms of protecting our investment in the new track and cost efficiency—to install the infrastructure for field lighting during the track site work and removal, and those infrastructure costs are included in the track project. 

MB has an incredibly robust athletic program with 67 teams across 17 sports and 85%+ of our middle and upper school students participating. A program of this scale requires the maximum usage of our available field space for practice and competition. Lights will enable MB to leverage our resources to best support the student-athlete experience, especially on bad weather days and times of year when it gets dark early in the evening. Additionally, night games at MB (currently made possible by renting temporary lights) have provided incredible opportunities to bring the community together and build school spirit. From a broader competitive standpoint, nearly all of MB’s local  and regional competitor schools have at least one lighted athletic field.