University to break ground for rec center
By Bill J. Perry
Work on a $17.6 million on-campus recreational and multipurpose facility
begins this week on the southeast side of campus. A groundbreaking ceremony
for the West Complex/Student Recreational Center will be held Friday at
11 a.m., just west of the Save Mart Center.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Carolyn Coon, the
project coordinator and executive director for Student Life. “I’m
ready to get a shovel in the ground.”
“We’re way excited,” said Molly Fagundes, president
of Associated Students. “It will be great for the students.”
When completed in December 2005, the two-story, 92,000-square-foot building
will include a fitness center with free weights and cardiovascular equipment,
two racquetball courts, two aerobic and dance studios, four courts for
intramural events, a jogging/running track, as well as shower and locker
rooms.
“It’s going to serve a series of purposes,” Coon said.
“Students can work out, participate in intramural activities, they
can use the indoor track, they’ll be out of the weather, and also,
it’ll be a safe place. It will give the students a first-class facility
on the campus.”
In addition, two areas for academic purposes—made possible by donated
funds—will be incorporated into the project.
The Leon and Pete Peters Educational Center—a 300-seat multipurpose
auditorium for workshops, conferences and classes—will be on the
first floor of the building, and the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship—a
resource center for students seeking to build businesses—will be
on the second floor.
“There’s been a lot of efforts from students, faculty and
administration to get this project going,” Fagundes said.
Before the project referendum was approved by the student body in Nov.
2000, a campus survey indicated that more than 37 percent of Fresno State
students were paying memberships to off-campus health clubs. When the
recreation center opens in Jan. 2006, students will be asked to pay an
additional $49 per semester to fund the new facility, as a condition of
the referendum.
Fagundes and Coon said that’s a bargain.
“It’s going to benefit the student body, the community and
help keep students on campus,” Fagundes said. “Right now,
some students are paying gym memberships of $30 to $40 a month. With the
rec center, they’ll only be paying $49 per semester, which they
would be paying anyway.”
The new facility will be to the west of the Save Mart Center in its own
structure, facing Woodrow Avenue.
“It won’t be connected to the Save Mart Center, it will be
set 40 feet apart,” Coon said. “But the building will complement
the Save Mart Center.”
However, one aspect of the center that has yet to be resolved is parking.
“Parking is the million dollar question,” Coon said. “That’s
one area we’re really going to have to sort out.
It was a question in ’98 and ’99, and it’s still a
question. That’s a touchy one.”
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