$61 Million Recreation Center Opens at CSU Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif. — By the time you read this, thousands of California State University, Long Beach students will have already explored and used the school’s new Student Recreation and Wellness Center, a $61 million, 126,000-square-foot facility that opened its doors Sept. 20 after a year and a half of construction.

 

Inside the student-fee funded SRWC, students, faculty, alumni, and family members can scale a rock-climbing wall, play racquetball and basketball on designated courts for each, or dine in at the Fresh Foods Café Express. The SRWC also features 20,000 square feet of weight lifting and cardio equipment, an indoor running track, sand volleyball courts, and an outside recreation pool and spa. Members of the SRWC pay $116 per semester to use the facility, considered the largest rec center in the CSU system.

 

"This is about the economics of making a healthier society," the university’s president, F. King Alexander, said at the opening of the student rec center. "A healthier student body means healthier graduates. This is about healthier citizenry."

 

International architecture firm Cannon Design designed the SRWC, while Pasadena, Calif.-based builder C.W. Driver served as general contractor on the project. Project managers hope the building will become one of two LEED Silver facilities on the CSULB campus. The SRWC utilizes gray water for irrigation and contains waterless urinals, sensor-operated lighting, recycled building materials, and biometric scanners for access.

 

Read more about the SRWC at www.asirecreation.org.

  

Edited 9-29-10