New facility building its own identity

The 2012 graduating class of Auburn University has been fortunate to attend during a time of growth on campus.

From a new student union, on-campus living facility and engineering building to a state-of-the-art basketball arena, the class has seen many improvements.

One thing they won't see, but will have helped pay for, however, is the new Recreation and Wellness Center that will replace the Student Activities Center.

The new facility is scheduled for completion in late spring 2013, and the construction has made immense strides since ground was broken April 15 of last year.

The new facility, however, is not "the new Student Act," said intramural coordinator Nicholas Head.

"With everything that is going into the Recreation and Wellness Center, we don't want to associate it with the Student Act," he said. "That's the truth. It's totally a different building."

Voting process:

Students had already voted for a new facility when Head came to Auburn in 2002.

"This has been a process much longer than SGA getting involved in '08 and '09," he said. "We've talked for years, for years about trying to get a new wellness center on the ballot, so it's one of things that's been a long time in the making, and it's finally paid off."

Head said Student Government was invaluable in getting the ball rolling on the ballot referendum and voting in the past five years.

"When you have folks like Lauren Hayes, who really is the original voice behind this, to come in and say, 'I work out in this current facility, and I may never see a new facility, but this is something our students will have to have,'" Head said, "and she handed it off to Jacob Watkins, and he handed it off to Kirk Sasser, and he's handed it off to someone else--they've literally gone right down the line."

Once the vote was on the ballot, Campus Recreation wanted students to be heard, regardless of the outcome.

"We got the feedback and 76 percent of the vote said yes," Head said. "We knew that was something we could take off and run with to the board and say this isn't something we're fighting for; this is something the students are fighting for.

"And those numbers, 76 percent, that's a huge number for people to vote yes on. And especially when people knew they would be increasing their fees from $7.50 a semester to $200."

Scott Harper, associate director of recreational facilities, said the vote was "very unselfish of the Auburn students."

Many voters in 2009 might have graduated or are about to graduate and will never step foot in the new facility, but Head said that class realized it could make an impact on Auburn's student body for years to come.

"A lot of folks that voted in 2009, they're probably getting a diploma this year," Head said. "It would be easy for people to say, 'Heck no, you're not going to increase my fees $150, and I'm never going to be able to see a building.' But they also did it with the understanding that they had to privilege of getting the new Student Center when the people before them only had Foy.

"You saw people say, 'I've been in the Student Act, and it is not a fun facility. And what they're talking about adding is going to make a difference in the next four to eight years of a student's life.'"

Students can view a live webcam of the construction at auburn.edu/studentaffairs/campusrec to see their dollars in action and keep up with the progress.

Funding:

"It is (funded) 100 percent through the students," Harper said. "It was voted on to pay for the building, and that's exactly what they're going to do. It's going to take care of the building costs and programming money in there as well."

Student fees no longer fund the Student Act.

"Students are wondering where their money is going now; it's not going to the Student Act," Harper said. "It's going straight to that building. When we say that students are now paying $7.50 and now they're paying $200, that money is going to build the building."

Future of Coliseum:

Much speculation has been made among students regarding the future of Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. It is currently home to various offices that have to be relocated before the building can come down.

Harper said the plan is to tear down the coliseum and use the area for a green space adjacent to the Wellness Facility and a parking deck on the south end of the lot.

Current upgrades:

Harper said students who are graduating could possibly use the new facility, but a decision has not been made.

"As of the moment, it is loose discussion," Harper said. "We're trying to come up with something that would be a good way for the students to have access to it.

"It wouldn't be a long-term thing because it's designed for the Auburn students, not for Auburn alumni, but being able to have the option that if you helped pay for it to have some kind of access to it. But that's going to take us getting together and seeing what that will be."

In response to this uncertainty, Campus Recreation has expanded its offerings in the past three years.

"We've gone from seven to 70 group fitness classes," Head said. "That's something we really put on the forefront: you know what, they may not be able to see the new facility, but let's give them everything we can in the current facility with every measure taken to make sure they enjoy their experience.

"When you talk about 70 group fitness classes when three years before that you only offered seven, that's a huge jump in only three years.

"We're saying you might not see it right away, but we're doing everything we can in this current facility, even with all the obstacles, to give you what you want."

Intramural Sports:

Head believes the new facility will expand the boundaries for intramural sports on campus. He said nontraditional games such as "intramural battleship" will be possible without resorting to other sites on campus.

"It will be an opportunity to promote more sports," Head said. "We're not going have a set thing, like we can only play basketball in here. It's going to be what can't we do, and I think that's the biggest thing. I think the possibilities are endless of how this will benefit intramural sports."

With additions such as three rock walls and outdoor equipment rental, new programs will be implemented to support those features.

"We don't have a climbing crew, we don't have an outdoor crew, but this department will establish those programs," Head said. "And I think that's what important to realize: this building is opening up a multitude of opportunity for things we've never even thought about having."

The Wellness Center will also bring back sports that had fallen by the wayside.

"We used to have intramural racquetball tournaments, but we haven't been able to do that for a number of years because we've had to close down those courts," Head said. "With the new building, we're going to get some things back that we used to do and have some new things that we've never had before."

Is bigger better?

Harper said Auburn never planned to compete with other universities on size, instead opting for a design that features unique amenities exclusive to schools in the Southeast and to Auburn.

"We weren't wanting to be the biggest," Harper said. "That wasn't our goal.

"As far as the climbing wall, it's going to be a lot higher than the one at Alabama. A third of a mile on the indoor track--I don't know of another track anywhere that's that big. It's got a corkscrew design; it's going to be the first one to do that ... This one is going to be multi-level, so it's going to be very unique. There will be things in the facility that a lot of people do not have, and some things that no one has."

Harper said the new Recreation and Wellness Center isn't like any other building. Rather, it's specifically tailored to Auburn students.

"It's not a matter of modeling it after any one facility; it's what Auburn students want, and that's what we got."