Bubble Over Alumni Bursts

The Boston College football team's Pro Day, an exclusive event held before NFL scouts interested in BC players, will not be held in Alumni Stadium today like it has been every other year. Due to damage sustained to the football field after high winds wrecked the Bubble over Alumni Stadium on Feb. 25, Pro Day is being held at Harvard's indoor practice facility. Alumni Stadium will be closed until at least March 18, the first day of football's spring practice.

"[The closing] is a precautionary measure," said Chris Cameron, associate athletic director for media relations. "On Feb. 25, the Bubble sustained some wind damage, which included some broken glass. Athletics and facilities didn't want to take any chances that there would be any remnants of glass in the turf when student athletes would be practicing on it."

The University is bringing in a sucker truck, which will vacuum up all shards of glass still in the turf. With any glass, however, also come the rubber pellets that are used to soften the field surface. A new layer of rubber pellets will be reapplied after the truck vacuums the turf of Alumni.

The Bubble will be closed for at least another week, so teams that would normally practice inside the Bubble, such as the football, baseball, softball, and golf teams, will need to look for other spots on campus to complete their workouts.

"Teams can't practice there, so they will have to find other accommodations," Cameron said. "That may include being on the Newton Campus, or in the Plex, or in the Power Gym."

Cameron said this was the first time the Bubble sustained this magnitude of damage, and said the facilities department preemptively closed the Bubble on the evening of Feb. 25 to prevent any injuries. The cost for the repairs is not known at this time.