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It’s been a busy summer for all involved with the design and construction of the $25 million campus recreation and fitness center. After deciding on a contractor in the spring, all the hours of planning are finally coming together, and, for those who have been working on the project for years, the excitement can be felt in the air.
“Everyone’s looking forward to it,” said Bill Charland, associate executive director of Facilities Management. “There’s a lot of interest on campus for another place for students to meet socially, and it will be a good recruiting and retention tool.”
Charland said a final design for the building should be completed and made public by mid-October.
“We are about 75 percent through the design process,” Charland said, “but there’s still a lot to do before you put a shovel into the ground.”
Construction of the building will be done by Pizzagalli of South Portland, which was hand-picked out of submissions from 18 nationallly ranked firms, Charland said. Pizzagalli was chosen primarily for the excellent work they have done for the university in the past and for their experience with construction management when constructors come into the project early in the design phase to work closely with everyone involved, Charland said.
Though some preliminary work is currently being done on the site of the recreation and fitness center, construction cannot begin until the university receives all required permits, Charland said. They have still not received a local building permit or a site location permit from the Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP has up to six months to issue the permit, but it usually does not take the whole time to finish the process, said Kenda Scheele, associate dean of students. Charland said the permit was sent in early September, so construction should begin in November or December and will last 22 to 24 months.
“We are right on schedule,” said Janet Waldron, vice president for administration and finance. “Everything’s going extremely well.”
During construction, there will be a Web cam providing updated pictures of the building’s progress online, along with answers to frequently asked questions, Charland said.
Though the exact size of the building changes with each newly revised design, it appears that the recreation and fitness center will be around 100 square feet larger than the 85,000 square feet originally planned, Scheele said. Among the numerous facilities encompassed in the center will be an indoor track, three basketball courts, a multiple activity court and a fitness center three to four times the size of the current Latti Fitness Center with new and improved equipment. Latti will continue to be used by athletes for training purposes, Charland said.
After a student survey was conducted to help decide what to include in the center and how many students would be willing to pay for it, the new facility will cost $90 per semester for all full-time students, and $50 per semester for all part-time students, Waldron said.
The new recreation and fitness center will also provide equipment rental for activities such as skiing and snowshoeing, said Guy deBrun, MaineBound coordinator. This will clear up a lot of space at MaineBound and will provide equipment closer to trails.
DeBrun said he is really excited about the completion of the facility, and hopes that there is enough money left over from construction to build an indoor challenge course and provide outdoor ice climbing, though these additions are not part of any current designs. DeBrun said recreation centers are now becoming the norm at universities across the country, and he’s pleased UMaine has followed the trend.
“Our current [recreation] facilities are not competitive with universities of our size,” deBrun said. “There’s no doubt it’s worth the money. It’s going to be a really awesome opportunity for our students.”
Bangor Daily News