New wellness center pending SGA approval

by Claire Dykes
Senior Reporter

Planning for a new West Campus wellness center is pending approval of a student fee to be voted on at the Student Government Association meeting Wednesday.
Without the approval of the fee – with an expected price tag of around $175 per semester starting in Fall 2010 for the next 30 years at a total of $29 million – the proposal will be completely dropped.
“I encourage my fellow students to weigh in on this important decision using the legislative process and contact their SGA senator,” SGA President Zack Mullins said.

Wellness center specs
Tentative plans for the center call for the facility to replace the parking lot directly outside the Village Market and West Campus pool. It’s planned to be about 100,000 square feet and include an indoor pool, roller hockey rink, basketball courts, a rock climbing wall, a classroom and other resources for physical activities.
The amenities are intended to expand on what the Depot currently offers students. Parking will be funneled to the existing lots surrounding the plot.

It’s been a long time
in the making
Pre-planning for the center began in April 2007. Since then, facility planners, including previous SGA President Ryan Greene, traveled to other Georgia schools to research facilities that could be incorporated into a GCSU wellness center.
Earlier this semester, the state Board of Regents passed the fee, pending approval of the SGA Senate. If the student fee goes through, planning for construction will begin and breaking ground is set for April 2010. The center is slated for completion in Fall 2011, according to Judy Bailey of University Communications.

Relocations to the facility
Health Services, the Depot’s wellness programs and Counseling Services will tentatively relocate to the facility. This will bring all forms of health-related student services to one central location.
“One of the advantages is we’ll be close to health services,” said Director of Counseling Services Mary Jean Phillips. “We could start groups that walk (around the track) to control stress.”
There are some concerns about moving Health Services. For example, it may be less convenient for students who do not frequent West Campus.
“I think there will be a learning curve,” said Alice Loper, director of Student Health Services.
Beason Hall, the current home of Health Services, is expected to undergo renovations for whatever will move in next.

Intramurals will benefit
The new facilities will allow for new intramurals such as volleyball, inner tube water polo, dodgeball, floor hockey, indoor soccer and possibly an NCAA volleyball team.
“If (the fee passes) we can offer more flexible schedules for intramurals, such as basketball, because we’ll have the room for more participants,” said Bert Rosenberger, coordinator of intramural and recreational sports.

“Green” design
The entire facility will hold up to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’s standards. LEED measures insulation efficiency, transportation possibilities, waste management, resource management, air quality and other environmentally friendly regulations on a 100-point scale.
Meeting this standard raises the overall initial cost of construction.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 25 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry