New Rec Center Loaded

The new Student Recreation Center, which is set to be open for the 2010 fall semester, is going to be a “top-rated facility,” according to Director of Campus Recreation Philip Theodore.

“It’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility,” Theodore said. “It will be comparable to any of the best facilities around.”

The 130,000-square-foot, two-and-a-half-story, $30-million building will include many features that the current recreation center lacks.

The bottom floor will contain an indoor, heated pool that will mainly be used for swimming laps, and possibly intramural events and water fitness classes. Outside, there will be a “leisure pool.” Its features include a whirlpool, deep water well, and a shallow wet deck. There will be a heated spa adjacent to the outdoor pool.

Also on the bottom floors are men’s and women’s locker rooms, both of which will be equipped with saunas. A refreshment area will be located next to the locker rooms.

The main floor will also house many new additions. A complete “cardio theater,” which will contain things like treadmills and cycles, will take up the main hall. The oval-shaped area seen from Old Shell Road will house a weight room containing both free weights and machines.

A third basketball court has been added to the new facility along with a fourth court that is slightly bigger and has a rubber floor. This court has recessed areas on either end, so it can be used for indoor soccer. All of the courts are larger than the ones at the current recreation center.

More features of the main floor include the racquetball courts (which remain at four just as in the old facility), a climbing wall that is approximately 60 feet across and 35 feet high, and an indoor batting cage.

The top floor will host most of the fitness classes in multi-purpose rooms. There is one bigger room that can be divided into two via a moving wall. There will also be a room that can be used for personal trainers or for people who would rather work out in a smaller, more intimate area, and a room dedicated to cycling.

The track is one of the main features of the top floor. The area is open in the middle and looks down on the weight room and basketball courts with windows on the outside walls.

It has not been decided what will be done about student access to the tennis courts. Currently, students are allowed to use the varsity tennis courts next to the rec center from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., because rec center employees monitor it during those times.

“I’ve got to have some discussion with our dean of students and possibly our vice president of student affairs to see how we want to address that situation,” Theodore said. “I would assume if we keep it open, we would just have to station a student out here [by the tennis courts] during those hours.”

The current facility, which began operation in 1992, will no longer be operated by the Office of Campus Recreation, according to Theodore.

“This facility has been a good facility; it’s served its purpose,” Theodore said. “But it really has lacked a lot of things that we need in recreation and fitness that we now will have.”