Fieldhouse grand opening held
The Fieldhouse has a new look, and President Kermit L. Hall performed a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday to commence the Grand Opening of its new Fitness Center.
The Fitness Center is open from 6 a.m. to midnight. Cardio usage from December to Jan. 10 totaled more than 17,000 hits.
Hall said the facility is a living monument of the wisdom of our students and student government. Student leaders proposed the idea for new facilities in the Fieldhouse during the 1999-2000 school year. Associated Students of Utah State University Executive Council members have been working on this project ever since. Sam Winward and Nate Anderson, Mike Shipley and Ben Riley, Jennifer Putnam and Steve Palmer, and currently Shelly Swasey and Celestial Bybee all participated.
“I have to say that Shelly and I have the best end of the deal. We actually get to experience the joy and excitement of the hard work and dedication of these former officers,” said Celestial Bybee, ASUSU president.
Bybee expressed gratitude to the USU administration.
“This facility stands as a model of partnership that students have with administration at Utah State University,” she said. “President Hall understood our need, and within his first year as president, he supported a one-time fund of second-tier tuition to make this Fitness Center become a reality.”
Shelly Swasey, the ASUSU Athletics vice president, said the $450,000 renovation is a small step to something great. This is the first phase of a three-phase process. Future plans include raising the track and basketball courts a level and filling the basement with cardio equipment, aerobics, weight rooms and possibly a passageway to the Taggart Student Center.
Swasey said she has received a lot of positive feedback from students.
Student Dan Niederhauser said the new Fitness Center is a huge improvement from the previous fitness facility in the HPER Building.
Jami Voorhees, another student, said, “For the last four years, when elections come around, students hear about promises of how the recreation center will be enlarged if elected. It is good to finally see past ASUSU Executive Council’s work being paid off in a way that students will benefit.”
Bybee said, “Let this Fitness Center not only keep the students physically fit with healthy minds and bodies, but let it also stand as a reminder of partnerships in selfless acts of sacrifice and service for the future, without which it wouldn’t stand today.”
–eedavis@cc.usu.edu
Mike Brockbrader, Gary Chambers, Shelly Swazey, Celestial Bybee and President Kermit L. Hall celebrate after the ribbon cutting for the Fitness Center on Wednesday. (Photos by Angelie Christensen)