Construction is finally done and the newly remodeled Student Rec Center is full of students night and day. Although the main entrance looks the same from the outside, immediately upon walking through the doors you will notice just how big the new Rec is.
What used to be an insignificant front lobby has been transformed into an elegant lounge space featuring a Duck Store equipped with a full espresso bar. Senior accounting major Conor Logan much prefers the new entrance to the old. “I really like the walk-in,” Logan said. “The way they set up the entrance is more open and spread out. It’s a lot nicer.”
One side of the entrance features the prominent new addition to the rock wall and the other, a massive 32-panel television screen. And that is all before you even scan your student ID to get through the high tech entry gates.
Throughout the $50 million renovation, student representatives served on 10 different subject area committees where they designed certain areas with architects, including the aquatics facility and multipurpose rooms. There was also an SRC Student Advisory Board and a Steering Committee appointed by the ASUO who would meet directly with the design team and provide feedback.
No matter how you like to get your weekly exercise in, the SRC has what you need. Now with double the space for weights and cardio there are many new machines ready to be used. A new 3-court gym has been added as well as more studios for group exercise classes, such as yoga and kickboxing.
With 110,000 square feet of new space, students and faculty alike are relieved that there will be no more issues with overcrowding. The old SRC was built to accommodate around 2,500 people every day and more than double that currently use it today. Senior human physiology major Leily Cantu uses the Rec Center five times a week and is excited about all the new space. “I feel like I have more room to move now,” Cantu said. “And I like that there are more machines so that I don’t have to sign up and wait for my turn like I used to.”
If you felt intimidated by the Rec Center pool before, now is your chance to get your swimming in. Not only is there a 12-lane lap pool for water polo, water aerobics and other water fitness, there is also a three-lane recreational pool. The recreational pool will be filled with warm water and can be used to just leisurely swim around or to play a game of water volleyball or basketball. Then, before drying off, you can relax in the new whirlpool spa with bubble and jet massage action.
Staff members at the SRC have been giving tours all week and will continue to give tours to anyone who wants to learn more about the exercise equipment. Senior SRC employee Kelsey Abel loves how the new cardio machines can track your fitness digitally. “There is a new program that tracks all of your workouts and gives you weekly goals,” Abel said. “You can sign in on all the cardio equipment, you don’t have to just stay on one machine.”
The exercise class schedule will work exactly the same as it has in the past. All you have to do is go to the SRC website and look up Group X where you can find a term schedule of group workout sessions and information about each individual workout.
Not only has this project made the Rec Center bigger and better, it has also made it more sustainable. The old pool has been converted into a reservoir to collect roof water that will be used for flushing toilets and the exercise machines will help generate electricity for the building. Much of the old Rec Center was requiring more and more money to maintain, while architects believe the new design will substantially reduce the facility’s carbon footprint.
Follow Tanner Owens on Twitter @T_Owens21