Students have been feeling the effects of the upcoming recreation center for the past year with the $75 assessed fee each semester, but the groundbreaking has yet to take place, and the purchasing of land has yet to be done.
“The land will not be purchased until October,” Michael Davis, assistant vice president of business affairs, said. “That has something to do with the time requirements of the present owners. We’re not concerned with the property acquisition. The property is going to be there for us.”
The architect has not been hired as of yet either, but Davis says that this should not set back the original time frame for completion of the center in mid to late 2006.
If a firm is selected that has had previous recreation center construction experience, designs for the center could be completed in six to eight months with groundbreaking beginning in mid 2005.
“These are estimates at this point,” Davis said. “There are a lot of factors that could enter into it that could speed it up or delay it slightly. We’re still very much optimistic that we’ll meet the announced time frame.”
Following a full year of collected assessed fees from the spring 2003, summer 2003 and fall 2003 semesters, the University has collected nearly $1,015,000 for the recreation center.
According to Davis, the more money the University can collect from assessed fees, the more money the University will be able to put down on the project resulting in a shorter amount of time needed to pay off the project. The money on hand will also enable the University to hire an architect and immediately start paying the firm for the design of the new building.
The projected site of the new recreation center will be directly across from the new privatized housing facility. This location has been proposed to enable future sites for intramural fields, new tennis courts and possibly an assembly center. Long-term visions also include residence halls being built closer to the recreation center.
“This project is on a fast track,” Davis said. “Although the students may not see things ‘popping,’ they are. There’s a lot of work involved behind the scenes. It will be moving along.”
In an effort to branch ideas from University officials to University faculty and students, a committee has been formed to give ideas for the recreation center progression. The committee consists of various students as well as university faculty and staff coming together to explore fitness trends, recreation center functions and student requests.
“The committee is an advisory panel to administrators and the architect,” Michael Matherne, director of campus recreation, said.
With the student input collected thus far, certain facilities will be placed into the design layout. A second floor indoor running/walking track, a cardio area and classrooms for seminars are scheduled for the new center.
“We’re moving forward very deliberately,” Matherne said. “We do not want to rush into a project as large as this and make a mistake because we were trying to go too fast. I think the process has been very, very good. We’re very excited because we know it’s going to add to the quality of life for our students.