Wellness Center expansion underway
New features to include racquetball courts and climbing wall
Bruce Frantz, director of facilities management, hopes to have a climbing wall taller than UND’s by the time construction on the Wellness Center is complete.
Construction on the new 74,000-square-foot addition to the Wellness Center began Monday and will continue through next summer to be ready for use in fall 2007.
The day care and locker room renovation will be complete in December 2007.
Construction of the Wellness Center was set up to be in phases to find out what student response would be to the facility.
“ Basically, the place was jam-packed from day one,” Frantz said.
The expansion has been in the works since 2003, when students approved an increase of $42 per semester in the April 2003 election.
It was the largest voter turnout on record, with more than 60 percent of students in favor of the fee increase.
Among the new amenities in the Wellness Center are four racquetball courts, more aerobic studio space, a rock-climbing wall and another running track.
All the new features may attract more people, and eventually, NDSU may grow out of the new facility, Frantz said.
“ In fact, it’ll be more space (with) more activities going on, and it’ll attract a different crowd, as well as attracting those people that are not inclined to wait in line for a treadmill,” Frantz said.
During the construction, some changes will be made to accommodate the construction equipment. Frantz said he hopes students won’t be too inconvenienced by a few minor changes to parking.
The WE parking lot will lose 40 spaces to make room for the equipment, but the meters for those spots will be relocated to another part of the lot.
This will impact the number of WE parking permits for sale, but to alleviate some of the congestion, more spots will be available in the HR and FA parking lots.
In addition, the entry/exit door of the WE lot on 18th Street will be blocked. To help with the congestion, the blockades in the northeast corner of the WE lot will be removed to provide another entrance.
The day care drop-off/pick-up will be relocated from the north side of the Wellness Center to the south side.
To monitor the progress of the expansion, visit the Wellness Center expansion Web site at http://wellness.ndsu.nodak.edu/expansion/update.shtml.