Amanda Rabines / Staff Writer
amanda.rabines@fiusm.com
It’s been a long time coming, but Florida International University’s Wellness and Recreational
Center is finally expanding and for good reason.
When the center opened back in 2005, it was built for a population of an estimated 27,000 students. Today, enrollment has nearly doubled and for years the Rec Center has not grown to adjust, until now.
Jan. 15, FIU’s External Relations sent an email notifying students over plans to expand the Wellness and Recreational Center at Modesto A. Maidique Campus. The email stated that construction is scheduled to begin March 14, with an aim to finish more than a year later, in June 30, 2017.
The Wellness and Recreation Center will remain open throughout the construction.
According to Rob Frye, the director of the Wellness and Recreational Center at MMC, the plan to expand the campus was brought forth three years ago.
Frye said space was a major concern for gym attendees.
“Our biggest need is in our strength area. The first floor weight room is very crowded and the evenings are packed,” Frye said.
Roman Fronzaglia, a sophomore majoring in communication arts, works out at the Wellness and Recreational Center four times a week. At first, Fronzaglia used denunciatory language to describe his frustration with the crowdedness, but straightened up to explain further.
“The energy is nice, but it’s very inconvenient,” Fronzaglia said. “On busier days, I’ve waited 10 to 20 minutes for a machine.”
For the process of the expansion to get started, the proper funds needed to be allocated.
Budgets from Student Government and FIU Housing were put into a pot to invest in the project, but most money stems from the Capital Improvement Trust Funds (CITF) in Tallahassee.
CITFs are a portion of student tuition that is saved in Florida’s capital and put aside for construction of non-academic buildings.
“It took us time to get the money available to do this construction and in surveying students and surveying our faculty and staff members about what we needed to add,” Frye said.
All together the project will cost $25 million, with SGA contributions focusing on an indoor jogging track, which will be 12 laps to a mile. FIU Housing investments will be allocated to an outdoor space for basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, and a plaza area.
The blueprints for expansion of the Wellness and Recreation center are found in FIU’s External Relations website, along with a YouTube video depicting the forthcoming changes.
The design team includes the same architect and builders, HKS Architects and Moss Construction, that developed the three-time award winning Parkview residence hall.
“Res’ is a great building, so we were very confident in having the same two players in the game to put together the expansion,” Frye said.
Despite his faith in the renovations, Frye also shares some concerns. For one thing, there’s a concern over noise.
“There’s going to be pounding, drilling, sawing and all that kind of noise,” Frye said. “At some points of time it’s going to be an inconvenience, and other times you won’t even hear it, but it’s something progress brings along with it.”
Frye said he believes the main concern is the impact the project will have over the existing parking area south of the Wellness and Recreation Center, more specifically Lot 8, where there’s low amounts of student parking compared to faculty and staff parking.
“Most of those parking spaces will go away,” Frye said. “But, 12-20 parking spaces will be dedicated for the student health center, so patients and clients can still go there and use that facility.”
While construction begins, alternative parking will be available in Lot 9, located east of the FIU Arena, and in the Panther Garage, located across from the FIU Arena. Students may also pay $160 during the fall and spring semester and $83 over the summer for a space in the Housing Garage.
“It’s going to be a little more difficult, students are going to have to park a little further away like over to the soccer field or by the football stadium. Possibly pay a little extra money to use the Parkview garage,” Frye said. “That’s going to be the biggest inconvenience.”
But to Frye, having the extra wiggle room is more than worth it, referring to the extra fitness opportunities the expansion brings like cardio-strength spaces and spaces for martial art groups. The expansion will also include a dedicated spinning room and a functioning training room.
By adding a training room, personal trainers may work with a small group of clients in a confidential area to meet their client’s potential and take advantage of all kinds of equipment.
“Having some more rooms will give us more space to spread things out,” Frye said.
Having a dedicated spinning room where the bikes will remain and won’t have to be moved throughout the day, excited student instructor Vicky Mendez for the future.
“People can set up the bikes to their own degree, which makes it easier for people who work out constantly,” Mendez said, explaining that the bikes may be more customizable for user experience once the renovations happen.
Frye hopes to host more events after the expansion is complete.
“Right now, Dance Marathon is held in our facility and it’s a little crowded, but potential of moving that to the new space will allow for more use of area,” Frye said. “All of this is going to be looked at as an overall improvement to campus wellness.”
[Photo and gallery by Amanda Rabines]