KSU held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $38.7 million construction of the Dr. Betty L. Siegel Student Recreation and Activities Center Thursday, Oct. 10.
The center is named after KSU’s second president, Betty Siegel, who was the first female in the University System of Georgia to head an institution. Siegel’s tenure lasted 25 years until her retirement in 2006.
The renovation is set to triple the size of KSU’s current recreation center, expanding the facility from 45,000 square feet to 176,000 square feet.
Vanessa O’Hara, the project manager for the recreation center, said the decision to expand the center was made in 2005 when the recreation administration staff realized that the current size of the facility was not large enough to accommodate the growing number of students on campus.
“There’s a lot involved when it comes to this project,” O’Hara said, which includes four gymnasiums, an indoor eight- lane competition swimming pool, an outdoor leisure pool, eight outdoor tennis courts, two sand volleyball courts, a 44-foot rock climbing wall, a 15-foot bouldering wall and an indoor running track. O’Hara said the design was created by Hughes Group Architects, the construction documents were created by Cooper Carry Architects and the center itself will be constructed by DPR Hardin.
Department of Sports and Recreation Director Tara Parker said the expansion is the result of years of hard work and that she is very excited for the new center.
“It came about several different ways,” said Parker, adding that the ability to offer more wellness and recreation opportunities should increase student satisfaction and retention.
She said the contents of the recreation center came about as the result of a number of student surveys conducted to discover what KSU students were looking for in a gym.
Parker said construction began about mid-summer and that she anticipates the project’s completion sometime in late fall of 2014.
“It’s going to be a welcome addition to the university,” said Vice President for Student Success Jerome Ratchford. “It’ll afford our students recreational outlets and sports outlets beyond our imagination.”
Siegel said she felt “absolutely blessed” when she found out the university would name its new recreation center after her. “How do you think I felt?! It’s an affirmation I’ve never dreamed of.”
Siegel called KSU a “spirited place,” saying that although she no longer serves as president, she still feels like she is here.
“It’s in my heart,” Siegel said, before commending the job President Papp has done since taking over.
