Rec Center options still being considered
As the school year winds down, Utah State University is no closer to building a new recreation center than it was at the beginning of the year. According to Patricia Terrell, vice president of Student Services, administrators are looking at options other than building a 75,000 square-foot, free-standing recreation center.
“As soon as Fall Semester begins, we’ll present options to [USU] President [Kermit] Hall,” Terrell said. “If we don’t go forward with the original plan that students voted on, we’ll have to consult students again.”
Steve Palmer, president of the Associated Students of USU, said he had hoped to be further along in the process by now.
“Students have been patient for two years,” Palmer said. “Right now, I think the facilities we have are not sufficient. It’s something we need to address.”
He said students will probably be given four choices to vote on sometime in the fall and that USU was hiring a consulting firm to look into alternatives. He also said Hall was not in favor of using the Sports Academy as USU’s recreation center because of its distance from campus.Terrell said she hoped more students would get involved if the issue comes to another vote.
“When students voted on this, only 10.4 percent of students voted, and of those, about 63 percent were in favor of a new recreation center. Also, the Board of Trustees approved the new center by just one vote. We basically just want to make sure that students are getting the best facilities for the best price.”