Then and Now: Student Fitness Center

  • Author By Illinois State University staff
  • June 1, 2021
  • A former ice rink on East Willow Street served as the Student Recreation Building, with renovations completed in 1988.
  • Student Fitness Center
    The Student Fitness Center today.
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Recreational opportunities for students were first provided on campus in the 1960s within McCormick Hall. Services improved when the University obtained the site of a former ice rink on East Willow Street in Normal, top, which is now a community activity and recreation center. Renovations were completed by March 1988 and resulted in students having access to space for cardio and weight training, racquetball, sport courts, and group fitness programming. It closed in December 2010 and in January 2011, the current Student Fitness Center opened at the site where Dunn-Barton and Walker residence halls once stood. The building project was feasible because students voted to increase their fees to help cover the cost. Over the past decade, the $50-million facility has become a hub for students to pursue fitness and wellness. It provides a pool, basketball courts, an indoor track, an indoor dual floor hockey and soccer rink, group fitness space, weight rooms, exercise rooms, classrooms, and 47-foot climbing wall.

Units

Campus Recreation