Updates to the Campus Recreation Center are nearing final stages.
The project will modernize locker rooms, offer new training opportunities and make some areas more accessible for guests. Amy Lanham, director of Campus Recreation, said she hopes the changes improve the visit for more people who come through the doors.
“We want to make sure their experience is the best possible it can be,” she said.
The project is on target for its estimated reopening in January. Most of the center remains open, but the pool is still closed and locker room and changing space is reduced. Lanham said they are working with crews to try to reopen some of those areas earlier. Closures began last November.
Work includes renovations to locker rooms and showers, additional strength training and conditioning space, and a new ramp entrance to the pool, along with some upgrades to mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Lanham said crews have started installing ceramic tiling, the first of the finishing touches to the project.
Lanham said the existing lockers rooms were much larger than necessary, and some extra space will be turned into a mother’s room and more strength and conditioning space. The new strength and conditioning area will also open up the existing space for potential improvements in layout or the addition of equipment not currently offered because of space constraints.
“With adding that, we have the opportunity to look at our existing space and say, what do we need to do?” Lanham said. “We’ll start to program that area, as well.”
Lanham is also excited to make the pool easier to use for more people. The previous accessibility entrance was a porch elevator visitors would ride down to the pool level.
“Someone that might have some ambulatory needs won’t have to stop at the front and say, ‘Can you help me?’” Lanham said. “They can go swim without having that burden.”
She said many of these improvements are based on visitor requests, and it’s important to be responsive to this kind of feedback to help people feel more comfortable using the facility’s services.
“It may be more inclusive, removing some of those barriers,” Lanham said. “Having options is huge. When the fitness industry changes or people bring requests to us, we can try to create neighborhoods they would appreciate.”
