CRS officials discuss plans for building a new South Campus rec center

Students living in dorms on South Campus looking for a quick workout might not have to walk as far as Eppley Recreation Center to use weight and cardio machines in the coming years.

Campus Recreation Services officials are in the early planning phase to build a new recreational facility, slated to open in 2019, in the U4 and U5 parking lots next to Mowatt Lane Garage, CRS Director Jay Gilchrist said at the Resident Hall Association's meeting last night. Gilchrist said he's often fielded requests from South Campus residents asking for a gym closer to their dorms, but CRS officials had to convince other departments of the need before they began to devise a plan.

"Many of you start with Eppley … and then you move over [to South Campus] and it's boom — not much going on," Gilchrist said. "One of the things we've been trying to do for many years is to create additional recreational facilities on South Campus. From the time we created [the Campus Recreation Advisory Board] 12 years ago, folks from RHA have been saying we want facilities on that side of campus."

A comparison of other Division I schools revealed that this university came up approximately 100,000 square feet short in the amount of indoor recreation space available to its students, and a new gym would bring the university up to par with similar schools.

However, the process is still in its preliminary phase, and design on the building has not yet begun. If all goes according to plan, Gilchrist said, construction could begin in 2018 and be completed by mid-to-late 2019.

There are two main reasons for the lengthy and uncertain time frame: affordability and the need to raise the necessary funds without increasing student fees, Gilchrist said. The university will not pay off the cost of Eppley Recreation Center — which was constructed in 1998 — until at least 2017.

With eight varsity athletics teams cut from the department's budget, Gilchrist said CRS is facing a $300,000 hole in the Eppley Recreation Center budget resulting from the facility no longer being used by the swimming and diving teams. Though Gilchrist said the department hopes to rent the facility out to local high schools and swim groups to recover the loss, the budget gap could cause a delay constructing the gym.

Gilchrist said the university can only realistically afford 75,000 square feet of the building at this time.

Additionally, open space would become available between the new facility and Prince Frederick Hall, which is slated to be built in the business lot by fall 2014. Officials are asking RHA to help create a use for this area, according to junior government and politics major Jon Saltzman, who represents RHA on the Campus Recreation Advisory Board.

"Campus Recreation Services is looking for input for what the facility would look like, as well as the open space next to it," Saltzman said. "Fortunately we have a lot of time, so this is something we want to handle delicately to find the best ways to gauge student opinion."

Despite the long wait for the project's completion, many students think the new facility would be a great addition to South Campus.

"I think it would get a lot of use," sophomore criminology and criminal justice major Joey Samowitz said. "It's a good idea because it's such a hassle to go all the way to [Eppley]."

Junior biology major Erik Kariya agreed it would be much more convenient to have a gym closer to where he lives.

"In the winter when it gets icy, it's tough to get across campus to work out," Kariya said. "And Ritchie is always packed, so I'm all for it."

But with the building set to be erected in a parking lot, some students were wary the new building would take away even more spaces in the looming parking shortage.

"I feel like parking is more important than a gym," junior animal sciences major Grace Tucker said. "It's a good idea, but I'd rather have a parking space than a gym."

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