The West campus opened its new Sun Devil Fitness Center on March 1. The new SDFC is a grand improvement from West's previous basement facility. (Photo by Ashley Kesweder)Students on the West campus have a new place to work out.
The $25 million three-story Sun Devil Fitness Complex boasts more than 65,000 square feet of space and was funded by a student government endorsed facility fee.
A committee of students worked closely with the architects and the project team during a 13-month period to give feedback and help conceptualize a design for the fitness center, said Chad Morgan, director of Sun Devil Fitness and Student Activities.
“Student wellness was important,” he said. “The vision grew out of that.”
The recreation center offers a weight and fitness area, two multi-purpose studios for group fitness classes, an outdoor pool with lap lanes and an inflatable movie screen. It also has a three-lane indoor running track, a two-court gym for basketball and racquetball, Wii and X-box gaming stations, a kitchen for cooking demonstrations and three alternative medicine studios. Sand volleyball courts are located outdoors along with a six-acre multipurpose field.
The building will soon be LEED-certified, which means it has been renovated to be energy efficient by saving more than 54 percent of electricity and 35 percent of water.
Elizabeth Langland,ASU vice provost and dean of the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, said adding the recreation center truly makes the West campus a residential college.
“The fitness center is built for the future,” Langland said. “It is a key component of the campus expansion plan.”
The recreation center is the third building constructed on the West campus since August 2012. It joins the 365-bed Casa de Oro Residence Hall and the Palo Verde Dining Pavilion.
The recreation center will be replacing a two-room facility formerly located in the basement of the West Campus University Center.
“It is night and day from what we had before,” Langland said. “We went from almost nothing to a palace of fitness.”
Langland said West campus students have been enthusiastic about the new recreation center.
Political science freshman Elena Hamasaka, who works at the new fitness facility, said it is a huge upgrade from the older facility, which only offered 9,000 square feet of space.
“Everything is brand new and updated,” she said. “I like it. I’m really happy with having this kind of facility close to the dorms.”
Morgan said there has been an average of 300 to 500 students through the door on weekdays so far.
“(The gym) has a very different feel," he said. "It’s much more aesthetically pleasing. The old space didn’t offer much natural lighting.”
The recreation center is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. and will offer several upcoming activities for students to participate in, such as day hiking and a March 19 basketball tournament.
Reach the reporter at amy.edelen@asu.edu
