For the past 10 years, the idea of a student recreational center on campus has been tossed around, proposed, and recreated.
Last spring the latest recreation center proposal was presented to NIC’s board of trustees. The plan was to remodel the Christianson Gymnasium into a student recreational center.
The proposal was passed by the board and then sent to the next step of approval by the Dormitory Housing Commission.
The remodel of the gymnasium into a recreation center would have cost an estimate of seven million dollars. The funding for the remodel would have mostly came from a maximum $100 fee added to tuition per semester.
However, during the process of approval, NIC began to anticipate a decline in enrollment for the 2013 fall semester so the rec center plans were, once again, put on hold.
Another building proposal has also been in the works for a NIC sports complex/event center that would be built in the Riverstone area. This building would take priority, and free up the Christianson Gymnasium for potential use as a recreation center.
“No one that I can recall is in disagreement that this campus needs a student recreational center, and that this facility should be built,” Vice President of Student Services Graydon Stanley said.
Stanley said that the beginning of the next spring semester will be a determining point of what will happen next for the two projects.
At that time it will be clearer what enrollment and budgeting will look like for the next year.
Once the event center has been approved, the Christianson Gymnasium remodel will again be proposed to the board.
For now, it is all just a matter of time and money,” Stanley said. “There are all these puzzle pieces that you have to play out before we can say yes on this one.”
