New OSU recreation center to be state-of-the-art

COLUMBUS – The Ohio State University Board of Trustees were briefed Friday (10/4) on plans for a new, state-of-the-art Recreation and Physical Activities Center that will replace Larkins Hall, the university’s current – and outdated – main recreational and intramural sports facility.

A large glass-enclosed atrium where students can gather, overhead and underground walkways, wireless Internet connections and a Student Wellness Center are included in the design for the main recreation center, to be built in two phases on the site of Larkins Hall. “We’re trying to create a new image of what a recreation center on a college campus can be, rather than create another Larkins Hall with a new look,” Diane Jensen, associate director of recreational sports, told trustees.

Other features include 20,000 square feet of fitness conditioning space; a suspended jogging track; five swimming pools; squash and racquetball courts; and space for the School of Physical Activity and Education Services (PAES), recreation and aquatic athletic competition.

A new satellite facility – the Adventure Recreation Center – is also part of the construction project and will include a climbing wall, a fitness/conditioning room, outdoor adventure center and a multi-activity court for indoor turf sports. Located on West Campus, the facility is scheduled to open in early 2004, and is expected to be popular among such groups as outdoor adventurers, sports clubs and true commuter students. It will offer an equipment checkout service, clinics and adventure trips.

Additionally, four multi-activity fields will be installed in the open area west of Larkins and south of Ohio Stadium. One of them is being installed with artificial turf reinforced with rubber granules for better shock absorbency. Jensen said the field will serve as a practice field for the marching band, and accommodate intramural sports, club sports and physical education classes.

There will be four distinct sections in the new center: an academic building for PAES, the main recreation center, and two aquatics buildings (one for competitive and one for recreation pools). “It’s going to look like four separate buildings from the street level, with them all connected underground,” Jensen said. The new center will be more family-friendly, with a babysitting area, adjustable height basketball backboards, a leisure pool and family changing rooms.

The design includes an overhead walkway connecting the academic building and the main recreation center, and lots of open areas, lofts and glass walls between various areas.

“We’re incorporating lots of glass so you’re not just walking down long, dark hallways,” Jensen said, “You’ll be able to look into – and out of – the swimming pool, the fitness area and the gymnasium.”

A groundbreaking ceremony for the main facility is scheduled for March 2003; a tentative timetable for opening is Autumn 2004 for Phase I and early 2006 for Phase II.

However, preparation for construction is already underway. Dump trucks have been hauling in dirt excavated at sites where the new Department of Physics and Knowlton School of Architecture buildings are being built, stockpiling it near Larkins for use when the recreation center construction commences. Jensen said that process is helping to trim overall costs for all three building projects.

In the meantime, the 100-ton Women’s Field House was moved Sept. 20 to make way for the new recreation center and a parking garage. The building, built from 1926-27, was one of the first collegiate structures in the nation designed specifically for women’s athletics.

The relocation, utilities and code upgrades will cost the university about $613,000, less than it would to construct a new building to serve the same purpose. The field house was most recently used for golf and archery classes through PAES. It will be used as a field support building for the four multi-purpose recreation fields.