The new Recreation & Wellness Center has been open on the Downers Grove Campus for about 6 weeks now. I finally had a chance to walk through it last week. So far, the reviews are very positive.

The design of the building fits it with the wooded area of campus in which it is nestled. And, truly, "nestled" is the right word! The building occupies a great location among the several housing facilities on campus--between the campus apartments and the residential units of Redwoods Hall. With its dramatic entryway, the new Center has plenty of windows that open onto the beautiful tree-lined areas of the campus.



One of the most interesting features of this new facility is that it was planned not only as a "gym," but also for students who enjoy music and arts/crafts. There is a nice music room, where student groups can perform or individuals can practice their own instruments or singing. A large craft room can be used for quilting, pottery making, or other group arts activities. The gymnasium is beautiful, with two full courts for all types of sports and intramurals. There is a large aerobics/dance room for classes (step, yoga, pilates, etc), as well as an aerobics/weight room with free weights, treadmills, elliptical machines, stairmasters, etc. There is a modern locker room area, with individual showers and plenty of lockers.



In addition to the recreation areas, the building also houses the campus Wellness Center, which serves students' on-campus health care and counseling needs as well as appointments for faculty/staff. A physician and nurse as well as the counselor have office hours to make sure that our campus community has ready access to care.





The new Center does not have a pool. If you have visited our previous Athletic Hall on campus (the building formerly known as "McNutt"), you might remember the Olympic-size pool. You may also remember that it was mostly empty. We conducted a survey of our students two years ago and also kept usage reports of the pool, and we found that fewer than a dozen people ever used the pool with any regularity. There are several other fitness centers in the area that do provide pools for those few individuals who like to swim on a regular basis.

We are working to update our campus virtual tours to showcase the new Recreation & Wellness Center on our web site. Next week, I will add some photos to this blog entry to give you a peak at the new facility. It has been designed for our students, and so far, it is getting lots of use. We think you'll like it too.