Aden Hizkias
  Staff Writer

Despite concerns raised by some, including the News and Record, UNC-Greensboro maintains that the new Student Recreation Center is on schedule and will open up in August 2016.

“This facility will allow us the spaces and equipment to offer a much improved recreation experience for the students and UNCG community,” Dr. Jill M. Beville, director of campus recreation, said.

“Construction is 68 percent complete.  We are on schedule to take ownership of and move into the facility in June/July 2016.  The Grand Opening celebration is being planned for August 2016,” Beville said.

Students can expect a two-level weight and cardio room, seven basketball courts, lap and leisure swimming pools, matted room for gymnastics and combative arts, indoor climbing and bouldering walls, three-lane indoor running track, roof deck for classes and a larges space on campus for concerts and events.

The current Student Recreation Center opened in 1992 and from the increase of the student enrollment, has become limited in some aspects of facilities.

However, there has been some controversy regarding the new center being built. The cost of building the new center has been $91 million. In the year of 2012-2013 alone, $8.2 million was collected from student fees. This increase in fees has left some students disgruntled.

“While health is important, there are other programs that need more attention and where money can be spent.” UNCG sophomore Sierra Rufino said. “It’s also that maybe a lot of students won’t want to go there because it’s not convenient, and it’s a further walk than the one we have now.”

The university created opportunities through student surveys, focus groups, and open forums for input and the feedback they have received has impacted the size of the center.

Campus Recreation is the largest employer of students with over 150 employees and will continue to increase with the switch to the new Recreation Center.

UNCG is expanding as part of the Village Development Project on West Gate City Boulevard. Along with the Recreational Center, this includes Spartan Village residence halls and the new UNC Greensboro police station.

The new building is part of the Leadership  in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. This program certifies certain buildings that have decided to go green.

“There’s going to be a lot of natural light. The really cool thing about it is that I recently talked to the environment studies on campus. Our facility is going to be silver . A LEED silver which means it meets environmental requirements to give it that standing,” UNCG senior Jes Esquivel, supervisor, said.

Students will see that the new Rec Center will be recycle friendly, use natural light and have the water bottle fill ups that have already been installed on campus such as Spartan Village and the The Quad residential halls.

“For employees, it’s great, and it’s going to give us a lot more responsibilities especially for the supervisors. It’s also going to be really great for the patrons,” Esquivel said.

Employees had an official meeting a year and half ago for an hour and a half to discuss what the expectations are for the new Recreation Center, what it would look like and what the aim was.

Although Esquivel is graduating and will not be able to use the new center,  she expressed her positive outlook for its development, suggesting that although there have been many negative comments because it has been built in what some believe to be an unsafe area of Greensboro, it will be a positive addition. Yet with the construction of Spartan Village and the new Police Department, it seems UNCG is aiming to create a new environment.

Taking away from the community was a concern that was brought up in the original employees meeting as well as general students, but the goal is to be open to the community.

Currently, UNCG allows students to use the Rec Center from their tuition fees, alumni memberships, and “plus one” memberships, in which a person can bring another, although they would still pay a fee and receive an access card for the semester. This is something that will be continued in the new Rec Center.

With concerns from some and positive outlooks from others, the new Recreational Center will be opening in August 2016.