A new West campus student recreation facility that was expected to open in fall 2012 is now scheduled to finish construction in January 2013.
The completion date was delayed when the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Capital Review did not hear plans for the recreation center, as well as a Polytechnic campus recreation center and a Downtown campus student union, until its Nov. 17 meeting.
The committee meets when its members are available. Although University officials wanted to have the plans approved in October, there was no meeting that month. All new University facilities require approval from the committee.
It approved the plans for all three buildings in November, but the plans’ stalled green light pushed construction back.
“Because it’s a construction project, we never know for sure what’s going to happen,” said David Anaya, interdisciplinary arts and sciences senior and Undergraduate Student Government West Chief of Staff.
The existing West campus recreation facility is in the basement of the campus’s University Center building and is only 6,000 square feet, said West Campus Dean of Students Mistalene Calleroz White.
“What we have now is adequate, but we’re really excited about the new facility,” Calleroz White said.
Management entrepreneurship senior Drake Qualls, who is also a fitness coordinator at the recreational facility, sat in on several planning sessions for the future facility and referred to the new center as “mind-boggling.”
He said he was glad ASU West keeps expanding.
“I’ve been at ASU for five years now, and I finally get to see something happen with all this construction,” Qualls said. “We’re moving closer to having all four campuses be equal instead of having them be good in one area and bad in others.”
Qualls said the center has a solid staffing structure, but they have old equipment and limited space.
The new center will be two stories high and will feature a significant amount of open spac, along with a multipurpose classroom, a weightlifting and fitness area, two gymnasiums, racquetball courts and an outdoor pool.
This open space and versatility was important for the design, Calleroz White said.
“What may be great or trendy or hot this year may not be in a few years,” she said. “We can adapt to trends.”
Qualls said the building would be devoted to physical and mental health. The ground floor will contain a wellness center with massage therapy, counseling and fitness assessments.
The facility will also contain a kitchen students can use to make healthy meals.
Students have been involved with planning the facility since it was first proposed over a year ago, Calleroz White said.
She said they have been able to attend meetings with the construction company and, at one event, were able to use blocks to model what they wanted the facility to look like.
As part of USGW’s Recreation Steering Committee, Anaya said he hopes to keep students involved with the facility’s construction. He plans to set up tours of the site during different phases of construction and post pictures to the USGW Facebook page regularly.
“Students should be very proud of this and excited for it,” Anaya said.
In addition to the recreation center, a new residence hall and dining hall are under construction at the West campus.
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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