April 8, 2002

Contact: Andrea Albright, University Relations, (785) 864-8860.

Groundbreaking to kick off construction on student-funded fitness center

LAWRENCE -- University of Kansas students who voted for a new student recreation fitness center in 1999 will begin seeing progress this spring after a groundbreaking ceremony on April 12.

The center, which students initiated in the late 1990s, will be paid for by recreation fees that were raised beginning in 1999.

Mary Chappell, director of recreation services, said the center had been entirely a student-driven initiative.

"They took that ball and ran with it," Chappell said. "Normally this type of issue goes before the Student Senate for approval to be on the ballot, but these students got 1,000-plus signatures to be sure to get it on."

Former student body president Kevin Yoder said the impetus for the new recreation center was dissatisfaction among students in 1998. While the fitness craze grew among the student population, the hours of availability at Robinson Gynmasium were being reduced to accommodate additional academic classes.

Yoder said a little bit of investigation proved that KU was at the back of the Big 12 pack when it came to providing space for student recreation. Rather than fight for the additional time at Robinson, Yoder and his team decided to resurrect a failed 1996 referendum to create a new student recreation center.

This time, students approved the plan, in part because it clearly was a student-based initiative.

"This was a student grassroots movement," Yoder said.

In April 1999, a referendum for the new student recreation fitness center passed with more than 70 percent of the student vote. By May 2000, the Kansas Legislature approved bonds totaling $17 million to pay for the center, and progress began on the design.

Three years after the initial vote, recreation services staff, students, architects and other advisers have created a plan that will expand recreation opportunities for students on the Lawrence campus.

Amenities at the new center will include a suspended track, climbing wall and collegiate-size basketball courts -- something that is not available at Robinson Gymnasium. The new center also will increase the cardiovascular training equipment for students, providing about 15,000 square feet of exercise space at the facility -- more than three times larger than the existing space at Robinson.

Chappell said that perhaps the greatest change for students would be the accessibility of the new center.

"This will be their fitness center," she said. "It will be available 18 hours a day. Robinson is an academic building until 5 o'clock."

The student recreation fitness center, which will be located south of Watkins Health Center, is scheduled for completion in July 2003. Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor, said a formal dedication probably would follow sometime that fall.

On April 12, Chappell and Yoder will join Chancellor Robert Hemenway, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs David Ambler, and former recreation center student activists Jessica Bankston, Scott Kaiser and Marlon Marshall to break ground on the project.

The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. and will move into Watkins Health Center in case of inclement weather. A reception will follow.

Chappell said she was proud of the students who had worked so hard for future students.

"From the beginning, this was a student initiative," she said. "It's been a long journey."

Yoder said he was glad to see construction under way three years after the difficult process began.

He said the new recreation center would be a wonderful legacy left to future students.

"There are so many buildings on campus that were built by students or people who had a vision," Yoder said. "We are the beneficiaries of those. Our whole message was to leave the torch burning brighter. This feels great."