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Recreation center nears completion

$25 million complex is University of Maine System's biggest project to date

By Mathew Conyers

Posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2007, 12:00 am

laura giorgio

The copper shingles are one of many unique architectural touches on the new rec center.

To get to Campus Recreation’s current office, a visitor needs to take two quick rights upon entering the Memorial Gym. If they follow those directions, they will arrive at the gateway to Jeff Hunt and David Mahan’s world in a matter of moments. Inside lies a room devoid of character. There are no fancy computers. No framed pictures. No flat-screen televisions.

Instead, Hunt and Mahan, who hold the titles of director of campus recreation and assistant director of operations for campus recreation, share an empty office filled with nothing but a few design plans and a flimsy little trophy atop the sole bookshelf in the room. In many ways, the best way to describe the working place is barren – there is no life.

However, for Hunt and Mahan, that’s OK. They can live with the empty feeling and blank walls.

After all, in almost exactly four months, they will be moving to the most expensive building in the school’s history.

On August 24, Hunt and Mahan will be taking their act and hopefully that flimsy little trophy to the brand new Student Recreation and Fitness Center behind Hilltop Commons.

The building, which is now nearing its final stages of completion, won’t just be home for Hunt and Mahan but – if the university has its way – the entire campus. As it stands now, the mammoth 86,000-square-foot center is the largest and grandest project the University of Maine has ever set out on. At an impressive $25 million price tag, the building promises to be the campus’ biggest and best admissions tool for future students. Like Memorial Union before it, officials and personnel involved with the future site are placing all bets on the building. If everything goes right, they are hoping the site takes hold as the centerpiece of an ever-growing campus.

“We are building a gym if you look at it physically, but we’re really building a social environment – a place where people can come and groups can come and be there together,” said Hunt.

The Student Recreation and Fitness Center which is not only on budget but on target for its fall 2007 opening is set to cap off 24 months of intense work when it takes in its first set of treadmill enthusiasts.

“This side of campus is going to be like a hub. It’s really going to come alive,” said Mahan.

Initially what will draw students to the expansive building will be a wide array of fitness components. First off, the building boasts three basketball courts, volleyball courts, a 12,000-square-foot fitness center, an indoor track, an expansive conference room, a multiple-activity court and a leisure pool to end all other leisure pools.

“This isn’t just Latti anymore; you’re not just going to walk into one 4,500 square-foot room and that’s all you got,” Mahan said. “You’re getting a whole building now.”

The list of attributes doesn’t stop there. Instead, it goes on like the longest of grocery lists. The building also includes three locker rooms, two racquetball courts, an equipment rental and checkout, three multi-purpose rooms and a first aid training room.

“We are really building another social space on campus that has a fitness and wellness component to it,” Hunt said.

If all goes well, Hunt and Mahan, as well as the deans, hope the building attracts not only the fitness mavens but a whole spectrum of students.

“I think it’s really going to create some excitement on campus,” said Hunt. “I think down the road what will carry that excitement will be the programming and the quality of service people get there.”

While all this looks amazing from the outside, the center does arrive with a little bit of controversy. In the past few months, the building has been met with its fair share of complaints from students about an additional fee on their student bill. The construction of the Rec Center has placed an added burden on the wallets of students, who will be paying $98 per year toward the building.

For those unhappy students, Hunt and Dean of Students Robert Dana have a simple message to deliver:

“I just think when people walk in for the first time when it opens they are going to be wowed by the place,” Hunt said.

Dana agreed. “All I suggest to those students worried about the price is for them to walk right in and see what this place looks like,” he said.

According to Dana and Associate Dean of Students Kenda Scheele, they need not look any further than the leisure pool – which will have wireless access on the pool decks and a whirlpool that Dana calls “Dana’s vortex.”

“The pool is amazing,” Dana said.

“Students don’t want to hang out here,” Mahan said, alluding to Memorial Gym. “They want to hang out in the leisure pool where it’s 80 degrees and you can use your laptop.”

Still, Mahan and Hunt are quick to note that they understand students worries about the fees.

“There will be some students who don’t agree with the fee. We’re ready for that, but it’s our job to get them there,” Mahan said.

“I respect that,” Hunt said. “Fees are a real issue for everybody.”

One way the group behind the building – which was designed by Cannon Design out of Boston, hopes to draw those fickle students in is by stressing the fact that this building is not just for fitness.

“If they have something they want to do in the rec center they should just bring it into the building and get their money’s worth,” Hunt said. “Students should be thinking of the programs and bringing them in, because we will facilitate those ideas.”

As of now Hunt, hopes to have different movie nights or special event nights in the multi-purpose rooms.

Hunt and Mahan are also counting on the building’s green standing to have a hand in impressing a few people unwilling to commit to such a giant creation. The center will be the first college recreation center to have obtained the Silver level of LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certification distinguishes building projects that have demonstrated a commitment to sustainability by meeting the highest performance standards.

“We will be one of the few that will be sliver LEED certificated,” said Hunt. “We may not be the first but we will be in the top three or four in the nation.”

On top of that, Mahan and Hunt claim the building is in the top echelon of rec centers across the country.

“I was just with the architects and they said be ready to go to the award banquets for this building,” Hunt said.

Beyond the architects, the building has come to its final form thanks to Pizzagalli Construction out of South Portland.

With most of the building gearing towards the last lap, Hunt and Campus Rec are looking to round up its staff for the new semester. Now Campus Rec has about 125 employees, with this building they are hoping to double that total. On Tuesday, Campus Rec will be holding a student job fair in the Coe Room of Memorial Union from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in hopes of luring some future workers in.

“The building is going to be up, it’s going to be ready and it’s going to be built,” said Hunt. “Now we have to get our staff training and ready to operate this place.”

Moving forward campus recreation will have until the first week to establish its staff. As it is now, campus recreation will be moving on August 24 when Pizzagalli hands over the building. From there, they will have a week to get everything ready before the doors open for good.

“The expectation and the expectations we place on us, is when we open that building everything is running smoothly,” said Hunt.

“Are we ready for this? I definitely think so,” Mahan said.

After operating for more than a month, the building will have its grand opening on the Friday of Homecoming weekend.