Student Recreation Center Opens at Grand Canyon University
October 08, 2010 03:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
55,000 Square-Foot Indoor Amenity is Latest Addition to Growing Campus Landscape
PHOENIX—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The biggest users—both literally and figuratively—of the new student recreation center at Grand Canyon University (GCU) got an opportunity to check it out at today’s media day for the Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team.
“I’m excited to have a state of the art facility and I’m looking forward to working hard here every day,” said junior men's basketball player Nick Witherill.
GCU’s new student recreation center—all 55,000 square feet—will be open to the campus student body within a week. The center will be a first-rate practice facility for GCU’s basketball and wrestling teams, and will house a fitness center to serve students, faculty and staff. The basketball teams will have use of one of the three practice courts, and students and staff will be able to use the other two.
“This is an NBA-quality court,” said GCU’s Campus Development Director Bob Machen. “The Phoenix Suns don’t have a better one.”
Machen knows a thing or two about the Suns facilities, as he also oversaw development of US Airways Arena, better known as the “Purple Palace,” in 1992.
“The basketball courts alone will be an incredible recruiting tool,” he said.
Designed by Tempe-based Architekton with Kansas City-based 360 Architecture and constructed by Scottsdale-based UEBbuilders, the facility includes wood-paneled men’s and women’s locker rooms, team lounges, weight-lifting and athletic training facilities, a wrestling room and locker room for coaching staff. The large fitness area looks over the basketball courts.
The recreation center is the second building to open as part of a $100 million campus enhancement project over the next two years. A new student dorm opened in time for fall classes, and a classroom and administrative building and 5,000-seat Event Center are currently under construction. To better serve the increased demand and record-breaking campus enrollment, GCU will add a third dorm and another classroom building to the project. A major overhaul to the student union is also planned.
“GCU is changing the face of west Camelback Road,” said GCU CEO Brian Mueller. “We’re increasing our footprint and enhancing the landscape – both economically and physically.”
Founded in 1949, Grand Canyon University is Arizona’s private university. The prestigious Christian university is regionally accredited and is recognized as offering some of the best education programs in the nation. Grand Canyon University offers traditional campus-based and online doctoral, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs through the Ken Blanchard College of Business, College of Education, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Fine Arts and Production and the College of Doctoral Studies. GCU emphasizes individual attention for both traditional undergraduate students as well as the working professional.
For more information about GCU’s College of Education visit http://coe.gcu.edu.
Contacts: Grand Canyon University, Bill Jenkins, 602-315-5566, bjenkins@gcu.edu