COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M University plans to add another recreation center to campus for more student recreational activities. The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved the construction of a $35 million South Campus Recreation Center Thursday.
The planned 63,000 square-foot facility will have strength and conditioning areas, areas for basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer, a climbing wall, locker rooms and more. The planned location will be off Bizzell St. across from Krueger, Mosher and Rudder Halls and right next to the golf course.
“With this new recreation center, we’re supporting our students’ health and well-being, which are essential to helping them succeed not only in the classroom, but also in life," said Texas A&M President Michael K. Young.
Rick Hall, director of Recreational Sports, part of the Division of Student Affairs, said the South Campus Rec Center project will advance the university by preparing students to assume roles in leadership, responsibility and service to society.
“The South Campus Recreation Center is a critical project to the university’s commitment to provide students, faculty and staff with the best opportunities to support and nurture their health and well-being," Hall said. "Multiple assessments have shown that participants in recreational activities have higher persistence rates and graduation rates than those who do not engage in recreation."
Texas A&M administrators said the facility is needed because of the school’s increasing enrollment.
A study by the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association shows that a university the size of Texas A&M should have at least 587,000 square feet of indoor recreational facilities. The school currently has about 415,000 square feet.
Since the main Student Recreation Center opened in 1995, the Texas A&M student body has grown more than 60 percent while recreational facilities have increased by only 25 percent.
The current student recreational facilities are located west of the train tracks that divide the campus and are beyond a 10-minute walk from much of the academic and housing facilities on campus.
Construction on the South Campus Recreation Center project could start as early as December. It is scheduled to be completed June 2022.
