SRC may not be built at all, committee says
Last April students voted to build a new Student Recreation Center at Utah State University, but a committee reviewing the plans for the SRC is still weighing a number of options and the result may not be building a center on campus.
The vote also passed by one vote through the Board of Trustees. Now it must gain approval from the Utah Board of Regents.
It has yet to be presented to the Board of Regents, and the SRC committee is “taking time to look at all the options available to find the best option for students before it is presented,” said Associated Students of USU Athletics Vice President Mike Shipley.
The planned facility would cost $12.5 million and cover 75,000 square feet. It would include cardiovascular equipment, multiple gymnasiums, an elevated track, an indoor climbing wall, locker rooms, a juice bar and parking.
The facility would require an $11.50 student fee per semester for design costs and a $63 student fee per semester to build and operate. It would not be open to community members, intercollegiate athletes or university faculty and staff. It would be open early morning through late evening.
Another option, presented to the committee in a meeting Wednesday night with the Sports Academy, is to use student fees to upgrade the Sports Academy for $3.5 million and open it for student use covered by those fees.
Keith Larsen, Sports Academy general manager, said the goal of the project would be to provide a “cost-effective, community-supportive and student-satisfying way through the use and expansion of an already existing state-of-the-art facility.”
The Sports Academy, a 95,000-square-foot facility in North Logan, currently offers a wide range of services and equipment, and under the proposal would expand its facilities to include student-only weight rooms, locker rooms, additional basketball courts, rock climbing walls, tennis facilities and tracks. The Sports Academy would also provide transportation by shuttle to the facility from the USU campus and various other locations in Logan.
This plan would require either a $28 student fee from all students, giving all students access to the facility, or a $15 student fee from all students and an additional $63 student fee per semester for only those who want to use the facility.
This plan would entitle students to use only a portion of the Sports Academy, and the facility would still be open to the community and owned privately.
Another option being considered is for the university to buy the Sports Academy for $7 million. This would come from student fees and would give students more immediate access to the facility.
It would also give students an opportunity to decide how it is used.
Although it has yet to be extensively considered, Shipley said he would like to propose purchasing the Sports Academy and directing $1 million to $2 million into upgrading the USU Outdoor Recreation Center.
This would provide more opportunities for students who may not use the proposed SRC or the Sports Academy to use campus recreation and provide for students who are more inclined to outdoor recreation, Shipley said.
The committee plans to continue reviewing options concerning the SRC, but there will be no action this semester.