University of Nebraska–Lincoln students will return to spring semester classes and be welcomed to a completed Campus Rec Center facelift.
Renovations to the facility at 841 N. 14th St. are finishing, and Campus Recreation will host an open house Jan. 21 to celebrate the upgrades. A ribbon-cutting, with light refreshments will be at 11:30 a.m., with additional activities planned throughout the day.
Construction began in November 2023, following a year-long bid and design process. Among the goals for the project were upgrades to electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, adding universal access to the swimming pool, and redesigning the locker rooms, which added space to the strength and conditioning areas. The strength and conditioning and fitness rooms will be open Tuesday, with the locker rooms and swimming pool opening in the coming days.
“The additional space for the strength and conditioning area was an ask of our student members, and will likely be perceived as the biggest change,” said Amy Lanham, director of Campus Recreation. “We needed to right-size and update the locker rooms to add that space.”
The Campus Rec Center opened in 1992, and the plumbing and electrical systems have been showing their age the last few years.
“For me and our staff, I think the biggest change is going to be the mechanical, electrical, plumbing upgrades that no one really sees, but is the best thing for us — not having to take care of problems that were harder to find a solution for,” Lanham said. “There were issues of concern that weren’t going to get rectified without doing new mechanical systems.”
Funding for the project came from Campus Recreation, and no additional student fees or donations were needed. The construction timeline remained on-target.
Lanham said the upgrades bring the center into the 21st century in several positive ways. For example, the metal lockers were replaced with lockers manufactured out of an antimicrobial composite material, which provides a healthier environment and replaces materials that were vulnerable to rust.
“These are upgrades in 2025 that just didn’t exist back in 1992,” Lanham said.
Changes are still coming, too, as the extra space in the current strength and conditioning area will allow staff to reconfigure equipment and add new.
