Monday, August 13, 2007
The $6.3 million additions to the north end of the Student Recreation Fitness Center will not be completed during the spring semester as originally planned.
The four new multi-purpose courts, expanded 2,000-square-foot free-weight area, and the two new racquetball courts will have to wait until late May 2008, after the semester has ended.
Mary Chappell, recreation services director, said the biggest deterrent of building was heavy rain this past spring and early summer. The increased cost of lumber materials because of Hurricane Katrina also contributed to the slower construction time.
The bid for lumber costs was placed before the hurricane struck.
“We are pulling all the pipes and wiring,” Chappell said. “We are going to have to close some of the track area in certain places to begin plumbing and electrical.”
That track area will be closed temporarily as it expands to stretch nearly a full quarter-mile around all eight courts. The fitness area used for aerobics, yoga and martial arts also will be closed once the structural part of the new addition begins. Chappell said she hoped to close those areas only during holidays, when the recreation center would not be as busy. She said those areas would be closed at other times as well, but she said she hoped to keep closures to a minimum.
The recreation center construction will bring more to students than just extra space and equipment. Jason Krone, director of sports programs, said that two of the four new multipurpose courts will be comprised of a synthetic, plastic material that will broaden the capabilities of intramural sports programs.
“Certainly the courts will be used for basketball, but a sport like indoor soccer is an underserved population here,” Krone said. “Enclosed walls around the field allow us to look at expanding floor hockey and adding indoor soccer and possibly roller hockey.”
Krone said 80 teams played eight-on-eight outdoor soccer during the spring semester. He said he hoped the new addition would allow scheduling for six-on-six indoor soccer during the winter.
Dane Hanson, Overland Park graduate student, said he would jump at the opportunity to play more soccer. He said last year he traveled to Kansas City at least once a week to play in an indoor soccer league when weather turned cold.
“I didn’t even know they planned to put in a surface that soccer could be played on,” Hanson said. “I think it’s easier to injure yourself in indoor soccer, but I’d definitely be interested in playing.”
Chappell said the new recreation center would accomplish the goal of cutting down on the wait time people experienced trying to get onto a court or machine. She said it was not uncommon to have to every basketball court filled, with teams of players lined up waiting to get into the next game.
“Functionality is huge,” Chappell said. “We’re excited there will be more space for more people and more activities.”
— Edited by Matt Erickson
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