Letter to the Editor: Is it too soon to call the Wellness and Recreation Center a failure?

At the beginning of the semester there was a buzz created by backers of the project that instructed students and faculty to get excited about our new facility. 

Amenities and technology aplenty, the WRC was publicized as the new big thing on campus. In fact, the Georgia College website proclaimed, “when it opens, (the WRC) will become one of the focal points of daily student life.”

Now, with more than a month of shiny new gym in the books, it seems that the only big things about it are its flat roof and its price tag.

Last week, The Colonnade published an article saying that a mere 3,200 students had even registered at the new facility. That is an abysmally sad figure. Less than half the total student population has ever stepped foot inside the WRC to simply register. The number actually using the gym is considerably smaller, averaging around 600 per day according to the WRC help desk.

That’s hardly a “focal point of daily life.”

The first month is the building’s honeymoon period, with people who wouldn’t normally work out going simply to take a look. What they’ve found is a beautiful building in a terribly inconvenient location with even more inconvenient parking.

And next year, when the price tag is $350 per year for every student, the head-scratching about why we have it will be even more severe.

But why should we complain? It’s here now and we’re not getting our money back.

I hope the student body complains enough so that next time GC is thinking about prioritizing student dollars, we’ll put the money where it matters: into our educations. As a liberal arts institution that desires to be considered one of the finest in the region, why aren’t we pouring money into our academic departments? Why don’t we have a more diversified academic catalog? How much could we expand departmental budgets and grow the academic offering of our school with $28 million? We most likely won’t get the answers to those questions, but they should not go unasked.

I was an SGA Senator that was outspoken against the mandatory fee when it was proposed and voted on, and 2 years later I still shake my head in disappointment.

I don’t for a minute oppose the intent of the building or discredit the value of wellness, but the opportunity cost of $28 million for construction of a building that big and underutilized is staggering. Maybe it is too soon to call it a failure based on student use, but based on the wrong focus from our campus leaders, it was a failure from day one. But, until I graduate, every time I walk the quarter mile from the parking lot that’s too small, around the building to get into the front door, I’ll miss the depot with all my heart, and I’ll wonder where I’m going to sit in the benchless locker rooms.

-Andrew Whittaker, senior political

science major

Posted by gcsunade on Dec 1 2011. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.