Construction for a $70 million recreation center is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2009 and expected to open as soon as the fall semester of 2011.

The building is set to be upwards of 100,000 square feet, in comparison to the 6,000 square feet of the current Fitness Centre.’ The new center will occupy a portion of the G4 parking lot, taking up about 400 parking spaces that will be replaced by the parking structure G3, projected to open in February 2009.

The funds for the project are coming from student union fees. The current fee is $35 and once the facility opens, the fee will increase to $130, and students will not have to pay to use the gym and its resources. The decision to increase the student fees was put to a vote and ultimately 57 percent of students decided it would be worthwhile.

‘ ‘(In) the referendum that passed in spring 2007 the students voted to pay for this,’ said University Student Center recreation center project coordinator Bryanne Knight. ‘We take it to the students and a certain percentage has to tell us that they are willing to pay it in order for us to implement it. The student fee advisory committee felt that it was enough and they recommended it to the president to approve this fee and it was implemented the next semester. ‘

The new recreation center is going to offer many facilities to students that the current fitness center cannot offer due to its small size.

‘(There will be a) weight and fitness space, the rock wall, and indoor running track,’ Knight said. ‘The weight and fitness space is about 6,000 square feet for our (current) fitness center (and) this is about three times that size’hellip; I think that there is so much variety that this building is going to offer to the students.’

USU Executive Director Debra Hammond has been an integral part of the planning process for the new building. Not only is the USU involved in the designing and planning of the building, but many other groups on campus are also giving input.

‘We have the (recreation) center design team meetings that meet periodically and then we have small group meetings depending on the topics,’ Hammond said. ‘So if we’re going to talk about locker rooms we get people who are experts in locker rooms (and) ask them how it works for them. When we’re doing aspects of the pool, we get swimmers, people who use the current pool now and use the pool at Redwood Hall.’

‘There are various people on campus we make reports to. We keep people informed as we’re going through,’ said Hammond.

Recreation and tourism management grad student Tim Szczepanski, the center’s Outdoor Adventure Coordinator, said he is creating a program that will be offered as one of the many services in the facility.

Szczepanski was asked to be a part of the planning team after asking questions during a survey regarding the new recreation center.

‘When they were going around trying to get the referendum passed on campus, some people came and presented in some of my classes,’ Szcezpanski said. ‘Trent Morgan and Bryanne Knight came and I started asking questions. After their presentation was over Deborah Hammond and Bryanne asked me (to get involved).’

‘I’m very excited I’m part of it and I’m also building an outdoor adventure program here on campus that will go into the new outdoor adventure program space that has been allocated within the (recreation) center,’ he said.