Prairie View students will gain access to a 82,000 square foot recreational facility between the William J. Nicks Field House and the LeRoy Moore Gymnasium by January 2015.
Ground breaking is set for June 2013.
Students gathered to discuss an overview of the $24 million project with the existing recreation center managerial staff and Moody-Nolan, Inc. architectural staff.
Project manager Albert Ray and director of recreation sports Chondra Johnson want students to understand the growing plans by offering insight on what should change to better equip the existing and growing recreational practices.
Offering new amenities like a juice bar and café, the planned recreational center is growing to add to the entire student experience in nearly any aspect deemed recreational.
Adding and expanding existing recreation center availabilities, the new two-story center will have a new 10,000 square foot fitness area surrounded by an overlooking 1/8 mile track above it as well as a demonstration kitchen to serve the students entire fitness experience, both physically and nutritionally.
Using the $175 recreation fee charged to each student to sustain the center, much is being asked of the students to design and decide upon alternate items which may be added if adequate funding from the fixed budget of $24 million allow.
The items mentioned include outdoor pursuits, a retail experience for students to learn about outdoor activities like canoeing and camping, patio, an outdoor activity pool along with an additional three-foot deep outdoor pool to the planned renovation of the indoor diving pool attached to the existing Field House, a climbing wall, 1,000 additional bleachers to turn the center into the ultimate venue to host campus events, and lastly, a traffic circle to mostly benefit the Greek caravan and probate activities.
Listed in order of importance based on the planning team’s perceived student concerns, needs, and wants, the team as well as students like Jasmine Price hope to reach out to the student body as a whole to vote on the elected alternate items to share insight on actual student concern.
The logistics of the student body vote on the matter is still under way, but students are encouraged to begin considering the six items now.
Prarie View A&M
Tuesday, June 24, 2025