New Student Rec Center Location Announced

[tcf15]

It is my pleasure to announce the location for the new Student Recreation Center! The new recreation center will be built on Hillside Road, on the site where the Connecticut Commons residence halls currently stand. The new 200,000 square foot facility will be a great addition to our campus and will feature a 20,000+ square foot Fitness Center, five full-size basketball courts, a running track, an aquatics center; including a 50 meter swimming pool, a wellness center, squash and racquetball courts, space for club sports and other flexible spaces to support UConn’s recreation programs and activities. The project also will include a multi-purpose outdoor recreation field to be constructed on parking Lot D, which is located off Alumni Drive. The University’s Master Plan intends to replace this parking elsewhere on campus.

The Connecticut Commons residence halls are among the oldest on campus and will be demolished by the summer of 2017 to make way for the new Student Recreation Center. The opening of the new 727 bed STEM residence hall in the fall of 2016 will add a net of approximately 285 beds, meaning that the loss of Connecticut Commons’ beds can be absorbed on campus.

Construction of the Student Recreation Center will begin in 2017, with the anticipated opening of the new facility in fall 2019. The fee for the Recreation Center will not be charged to students until the new building opens its doors.

 

[Drew]

This is AWESOME. Smack in the middle of campus, tons of basketball courts and FINALLY rec fields for the students so we don't have to play flag football on the frozen field hockey field and risk snapping a leg in half in the process. This is going to be a world class facility located at a world class university. UConn continues to be "UConnstruction" and I'm 100% on board!

 

[UCONNJACK]

http://today.uconn.edu/2015/09/student-recreation-center-site-selected/

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Desperately needed. The current facility is truly an embarrassment for a school of this size and with as much invested into it over the last 20 years as there has been. I've been to so many far smaller schools that just blew UConn's facilities out of the water.

 

[HU5KIES]

It really is an embarrassment. There were approximately 8-10 squat racks (where people also bench) in the entire gym last year. With other construction going on in Putnam (Hilltop dorms dining hall), they had to eliminate one of the workout rooms for BodyWise, UConn's exercise classes such as spinning, kickboxing, zumba, etc. This leaves about 5 squat/bench racks for 25,000+ students. There never isn't a 15 minute wait for the racks.

This is much, much needed. It kinda stinks that it won't be ready until Fall 2019, so not a single undergrad currently attending will be able to use it, even the current Freshman (if they graduate in 4 years)

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

Of course they decide to make a new Rec center shortly after I graduate. I don't even lift at the fieldhouse because it's so cramped I just ball

 

[ctchamps]

It's a prerequisite to get into the B!G. Everything going according to plan.

 

[Nostical]

Every night you should thank your deity that Susan Herbst is at the helm of our University. It's a shame to think how we squandered so much with our prior (lack of) leadership.

 

[HarryAGampel]

Any clue what will go up in the place of the current Rec Center? It's pretty prime real estate on campus. Also will the Field House remain?

 

[CL82]

Any clue what will go up in the place of the current Rec Center? It's pretty prime real estate on campus. Also will the Field House remain?

If you look carefully at the maps in the linked article, you will see that part of the field is gone and there is a new concourse around Gampel. A new entrance will be built facing a new courtyard in this gap.

Lol, I googled UConn Master Plan and found this link. I knew that I had seen this somewhere.

 

[Santini35]

If you look carefully at the maps in the linked article, you will see that part of the field is gone and there is a new concourse around Gampel. A new entrance will be built facing a new courtyard in this gap.

Lol, I googled UConn Master Plan and found this link. I knew that I had seen this somewhere.

I think that image is out of date, the article says it's going where Connecticut Commons dorms are (what was Grad Dorms when I was there) which is across Hillside from Gampel, not on the same side

 

[Drew]

Is there still a plan to include a below ground level parking garage with a field on top for recreation use? This was by far the coolest aspect of the plan

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Is there still a plan to include a below ground level parking garage with a field on top for recreation use? This was by far the coolest aspect of the plan

I believe the revised master plan has parking being built under Sherman (Track & field hockey).

 

[Drew]

I believe the revised master plan has parking being built under Sherman (Track & field hockey).

Interesting. I'm curious how that will wind up working since I was under the impression that Hillside road that runs straight through the heart of campus will be shut down eventually.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Interesting. I'm curious how that will wind up working since I was under the impression that Hillside road that runs straight through the heart of campus will be shut down eventually.

Good question. Hillside will still have to remain open to a degree to service certain buildings (Union, Jorgensen, Gampel, Fieldhouse, etc.). For parking traffic, maybe ‘end’ Hillside at Glenbrook allowing folks driving from that direction to take a right there and then go behind the Fieldhouse into the garage and/or build an access road from Calhoun going behind the Basketball center to Sherman.

 

[Drew]

If you look carefully at the maps in the linked article, you will see that part of the field is gone and there is a new concourse around Gampel. A new entrance will be built facing a new courtyard in this gap.

Lol, I googled UConn Master Plan and found this link. I knew that I had seen this somewhere.

Might be a dumb question but this attached new concourse would presumably include built in concessions and such correct?

 

[CL82]

Might be a dumb question but this attached new concourse would presumably include built in concessions and such correct?

Don't know, but I would think so.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Don't know, but I would think so.

We are talking about a construction projected by the state of Connecticut, home of the CT Busway, fake culverts and drains on I-84 in Cheshire and Waterbury, and a university flagship library that was wrapped in plastic and scaffolding for close to a decade...

 

[Drew]

 

[HarryAGampel]

Did they in knock down the grad student housing for this? Also any idea what's going to go where the current gym is?

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Did they in knock down the grad student housing for this? Also any idea what's going to go where the current gym is?

Yes, there was one stairwell left of the old grad dorms when I stopped by in mid August.

 

[Drew]