Rec Centers are the latest college trend

by Andrea Wilcox
For The Post

The latest college trend reached Hocking College when ground was broken on Tuesday for a new recreation center.

"A lot of students are excited about this," HC sophomore Scott Landrum said.

A state-of-the-art recreation center is something that prospective students look for when deciding which college to attend, said Amy Allaire, the director of fitness programs at Ohio University.

The new center definitely will attract new students and help keep the ones that are already there from leaving, said Giles Lee, who is in charge of student activities at HC.

"It makes a statement about what is offered at the school," Allaire said.

The school is going to have more availability for everything from sports to shows. New classes, such as scuba lessons and water aerobics, will be offered, Lee said.

"It will help increase the quality of life at HC," he said.

HC currently has a gym with small weight and fitness rooms, said Roy Palmer, HC's vice president of administration.

The new center will be much larger with a pool, running track, climbing wall and an area for instructional classes, Palmer said.

The pool in the recreation center will be more convenient, because many students now must use the Ramada Inn pool, Landrum said.

Palmer said HC's new recreation center is expected to be complete in July 2002 with availability for both students and faculty members.

"It is going to completely look and change the feel of the whole campus," Palmer added.

Constructing big recreation centers is a trend in colleges across the United States, according to Allaire. One reason for this is that schools have more money because of the economy. Also, fitness is becoming more of a priority to students, she said.

Before construction of Ping Center in 1996, OU had a small exercise room in Grover Center. It contained just a few stair steppers and had a capacity of about 10 people, said Allaire.

"This is a good and important time in a student's life to start thinking about their health," she said.