If you’re a recreation or fitness fanatic at Dixie State University, you will have to wait a little longer to know all of the features that will be encompassed in the Human Performance Center.
DSU officials are still waiting to hear back from contractors on what they can actually afford and include in the center.
“We told them everything we want (in the center),” said Sherry Ruesch, executive director of facilities management. “Now it’s time for them to come back and say, ‘Here’s what you can really afford.’”
Ruesch said DSU officials should be hearing from contractors within the next month or so.
Even though all features are not set in place at this time, the center will definitely include an Olympic-size pool, a rock climbing wall, weights and exercising areas, an indoor track, academic space, gymnasiums and court space, and multipurpose rooms, which can be used for activities like dancing and yoga.
When it comes to the vision of the center, Ruesch said it will look similar in size to the Holland Centennial Commons. The center will be located in the current parking lot of the Student Activities Center.
Funding for the Human Performance Center, which Layton Construction will build and MHTN Architects will design, was approved by the Utah Legislature the first week of March after three years of being unsuccessful of getting state funding. Since the state is paying for half of the center, 50 percent of the center’s use has to go toward academics, said Paul Morris, vice president of administrative affairs.
“The newer [recreational buildings] throughout the state are only student recreational buildings, meaning the students are paying for all of it,” Morris said. “The state, on this building, is paying for half. So in that respect, we’re really grateful to the state for stepping up and helping us pay for it.”
The center will house health and physical sciences. Morris also said the center will likely hold classes for the University of Utah’s physical therapy and occupational therapy programs.
The Human Performance Center will have a “better quality” fitness center than the one DSU already has, but Morris said there are no plans to tear down the Fitness Center.
“We won’t have the need for that space as a fitness center, but at this point, we don’t know how we’ll use that space,” Morris said.
Student Body President Ezra Hainsworth, a senior communication studies major from St. George, said DSU students should look forward to the space the new center will provide.
“What we have right now worked for how small we were a few years ago, but because of how rapidly we are growing…we need more space,” Hainsworth said.
The Human Performance Center is set to break ground Oct. 25 during Homecoming Week and is estimated to be complete by July 2019.
“It will be a big statement piece,” Hainsworth said.