The Campus Recreation Office at Stony Brook University is trying to get approval from the state legislature for a $17 million Campus Recreation Center, which will be built next to the existing Sports Complex.
Despite the presence of the Sports Complex, the Recreation Office decided that it needed a new facility open specifically for all students, not just members of the university’#146;s sports teams. As it is, students using the Sports Complex for recreational purposes take second priority to the teams for use of space.
‘Currently, we share the Sports Complex with Athletics, Physical Education and Community Rentals,’ said Susan DiMonda, Director of Campus Recreation.’A campus our size should have a separate facility for open recreation,intramural, fitness classes and sport club practices and competition.’
With the Sports Complex being shared by so many departments, DiMonda said that at best there are about four hours of open recreation available to students each day. With the Campus Recreation Center (CRC), that amount increases to eighteen hours a day.
The eighteen hours a day may be necessary for students, as they will have a wide selection of sports to choose from. The CRC’#146;s facilities will include three indoor basketball and volleyball courts, a floor hockey and indoor soccer center, a three-lane jogging track and a caf’eacute;, among other things.
‘They can come to the recreation center and participate in basketball,volleyball, badminton, indoor soccer, floor hockey, lacrosse and any form of weight training, cardio-vascular or fitness class eighteen hours a day,’DiMonda said.
‘The CRC is designed to become a landmark on campus with glass spanning many of the exterior walls,’ DiMonda said, with the intent to make it as visibly prominent and inviting as possible. It will have three floors, with a main, upper and lower level.
‘The center has been designed to serve all students, including those who just want to enjoy the cafe, watch a game or soap opera on the large screenTV or relax between classes in the lounge area,’ DiMonda said.
The CRC has already been approved by students, although it had to be voted through a second ballot. The proposal failed the first time because students were reluctant to pay for something they would never get to use, DiMonda said.
He stated that students didn’t vote because they thought that the CRC would be passed with or without their vote. Instead, it failed by just 36 votes.
However, a change in the payment plan for the center helped it finally win student approval. Instead of current students paying for a facility they will never get to use, payment for the CRC will instead begin only after the center opens.
Faculty and alumni will also have access to the CRC, although they will have to pay a membership fee. The facility will be staffed mainly with students,primarily to create additional job opportunities for students on campus. Theoffices for Campus Recreation will also move to the CRC, which, according toDiMonda, is badly needed.
‘We are busting at the seams in regard to recreational facilities for our students,’ DiMonda said.
