Nov. 17, 2011
Photos by Bob Elbert.
State Gym construction is in the home stretch
by Anne Krapfl
The two gym floors -- five basketball courts worth -- are painted and polished. The leisure pool is filled. A 40-foot climbing wall is ready to go. Elevators are operational. Offices for recreation services staff are starting to come together. And this week, five semi truckloads of fitness and weightlifting equipment are being installed in the renovated State Gym and its west addition.
It's all good, says recreation services director Mike Giles, arguably the most disappointed guy on campus that the $38 million project didn't wrap up last summer as originally scheduled.
Giles said the building will open "as early as possible in spring semester." He expects to announce an opening date before fall semester concludes. Once the construction crews exit and all the building's utility and environmental systems are tested and approved, the (not small) task remaining is to train employees who will oversee activities there. Recreation services employs more than 500 part-time student workers during a calendar year.
Free test drive
Giles said that anyone eligible to purchase a recreation services pass will have some time to "test drive" the building for free before deciding whether to pay user fees. Details on what that free period looks like still are being worked out. As previously announced, following a two-year fee phase-in for nonstudent users, the annual fee will be $403, the same that full-time students pay. This fee gives people access to recreation services facilities in State Gym, Beyer Hall and the Lied center.
In addition to gymnasiums, the pool, climbing wall, one-eighth mile track and several fitness/dance studios, the facility will house 125 stations for individual workouts, half of which are related to weight training, the other half cardio-focused (think StairMaster, rowing machine, elliptical crosstrainer and the like).
Part of the former pool area in the east end of State Gym was converted to a mind/body fitness suite and includes space for Pilates, yoga, massage therapy and a private training room. The outdoor recreation program is returning to renovated space on the lower level of State Gym.
Iowa State will seek LEED® Gold certification -- the No. 2 spot on a four-tiered sustainable building scale -- for the recreation services project.
Photos by Bob Elbert.
