A larger, updated Student Recreation Complex could be on the horizon for Tempe campus students if an SRC expansion plan is approved.
The Residence Hall Association has endorsed the idea of an expansion plan that will create a bigger SRC with new amenities, possibly including a health spa, indoor driving range and rock climbing wall.
RHA director and political science junior Chris Gast said the plan to expand the SRC and add new amenities has been discussed for the past five years, but RHA was the first organization to support the proposal.
“We’ve had some students every year talk about a new SRC, but everything seemed to come together this year,” Gast said.
There has been a group of about eight students meeting regarding the SRC expansion, he said.
These students gave their input, and renderings were made of what the expanded SRC could look like, he said.
According to the SRC Expansion Project Web site, the expansion would be an addition built onto the east side of the current building, between the existing SRC and Hassayampa Academic Village.
The expansion would wrap around the swimming pool with a new entrance at Apache Boulevard and McAllister Avenue.
Some of the possible amenities include a climbing wall, a mini indoor driving range, an indoor running track, or a health spa, though not all of the proposed amenities will be installed, SRC director Tamra Garstka said.
The project is estimated to cost about $60 million, but the amount depends on the specifics of the expansion.
Garstka said it’s up to the students to show support for the vision of an expanded SRC.
One of the ways to show support is by signing a petition, Garstka said.
“We have over 1,000 students that have gone online and shown support on our expansion Web site,” she said.
If the idea gains support of the student body, then a proposal would go to the Arizona Board of Regents for a fee increase that would expand SRC facilities and fields, Garstka said.
She said an extra $25 to $35 could be added to the existing $25-per-semester student fee, depending on what amenities are included in the expansion.
“Students will need to specify what they are willing to support; this will determine the fee amount,” Garstka said. “We are also trying to develop partnerships that could offset the costs for students.”
Kinesiology junior Dave Morrison, who uses the SRC about three times a week, said he supports the expansion idea.
“Unless you go in the morning, there are just far too many people in there to get anything done,” said Morrison, who is listed in the ASU directory as a Campus Recreation employee based at the SRC.
Morrison said he thinks some of the proposed ideas border on unnecessary, though, like the mini driving range and health spa.
“It’s a student recreation complex, not a resort,” he said. “I hope they invest the money in the places that need it most before they put it into luxuries.”
Danielle Deutsch, a photography junior who visits the SRC occasionally, said she might use the facility more frequently if it’s expanded and updated.
“The plans sound like a great, team-oriented kind of place, which could get more students in the growing population at ASU involved on campus,” Deutsch said.
ASU’s large student population is one of the reasons RHA supports the expansion plans. Gast said the SRC is smaller than the one at UA, which he said doesn’t make sense.
“We’re almost twice the size of U of A, yet our facility isn’t matching theirs,” he said.
“Having a good SRC is great on so many levels,” he said. “It’s good for recruitment because top athletes look at the condition of a school’s facilities, and when students look at a place from out-of-state, they take the student recreation center into account.”
Gast said the RHA has heard what students want, and they’re ready to support this change.
“We will advocate whatever needs to happen to pass this proposal,” Gast said. “We will advocate to the student government, to the Arizona Board of Regents and to the administration.”
Reach the reporter at charlsy.panzino@asu.edu .
