Jordan Beck | Daily Press Bay College Vice President of Operations Christine Williams leads a tour of Bay’s athletic addition to the Northern Lights YMCA building Wednesday. Members of the Bay College Board of Trustees took part in the tour.

ESCANABA — Members of the Bay College Board of Trustees toured Bay’s athletic addition to the Northern Lights YMCA building, where the college’s gymnasium facility is located, after the board’s meeting Wednesday. Construction on this expansion project has run into some problems.

The work currently taking place at the YMCA building is being done to complete the project’s first phase, which will include locker rooms for the Bay College Norse, away teams, coaches and referees; a training facility; and offices.

Vice President of Operations Christine Williams gave a report to the board that included information about the athletic addition during Wednesday’s meeting.

“I officially want to let you know that we are behind schedule on the athletic addition,” she said.

Water, sewer, gas and storm lines for the new addition are nearly complete; exterior sidewalks and interior duct work are being installed; and insulation and drywall work is underway. However, some windows for the addition were not delivered on schedule — and, as a result, other exterior work was unable to move forward as expected.

Williams said a labor shortage has also impacted construction on the athletic addition.

According to Williams, the college is currently unsure when the athletic addition will be ready to open.

“We don’t know exactly what our new schedule is,” she said.

However, she noted work on the facility is likely about two weeks behind schedule. This winter, bitterly cold temperatures and heavy snowfall pushed the completion of the project’s first phase back another three to four weeks.

These issues have not affected the project financially, however.

“We are still within budget, so that’s the good news,” Williams said.

During the meeting, board members also heard an update on the college’s athletics program.

Early in his presentation on the topic, Athletic Director Matt Johnson provided information focusing on the athletics program’s impact on Bay.

“The total for the fall (2018) semester … was 84 student athletes, with tuition and fees equalling $215,973,” Johnson said.

During the winter 2019 semester, there were once again 84 student athletes involved in the athletics program. Tuition and fees from the program during the winter 2019 semester equalled $193,210.

In total, the Bay athletics program brought in $631,861 in revenue during Bay’s 2018-19 school year. Direct expenses for the program were $510,103.

Johnson also spoke about the win-loss records of Bay teams, awards won by participating students — including multiple academic awards from the National Junior College Athletic Association — and the GPAs of student athletes.

The average GPA for Bay student athletes during the fall 2018 semester was 2.84; the college’s overall average GPA for degree-seeking students that semester was 2.64. In the winter 2019 semester, student athletes had an average GPA of 2.85 and Bay students as a whole had an average GPA of 2.56.

Johnson said the future is looking bright for Bay’s athletics program.

“As of today … we currently have 90 student athletes committed for this coming season,” he said.