The Associated Students Inc. and Cal State Long Beach are holding a $2,100 groundbreaking ceremony on Friday for the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
The event will be hosted by Dave Edwards, ASI associate executive director, and will feature an information booth about what the center will provide and pictures of what it’ll look like once it’s built, said Christina Esparza, ASI communications coordinator.
ASI will provide food catered by “The Grand,” a band and shade via canopies.
“It’s going to be more promotional, but it will also be a celebration,” Esparza said.
ASI is paying $1,200 for the food, $300 for the band and $600 for the canopies, according to Esparza.
CSULB President F. King Alexander and ASI President Erin Swetland will speak at the event.
Esparza said there have been 130 guest reservations, which include professors, CSULB deans, former ASI executives and people involved with the construction, Esparza said. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster was set to attend, but it was later said he would be out of town.
The center will be CSULB’s first building designated as “Leadership in Energy and Environmentally Design” silver-certified (LEED). It’ll feature waterless urinals, recycled lumber and adjustable lighting that’ll brighten as the night gets darker. Even the asphalt from Parking Lot 11, which is where the center is being constructed, will be reused beneath the building’s foundation.
Students voted and approved construction of the center by nearly 75 percent in spring 2007. A student fee of $110 per semester and an $83 summer fee will finance the center’s construction and upkeep. Students do not have to pay the fees until construction is complete, in which all students will have access to the facility.
According to a press release, the center will be 126,000 square feet and will feature fitness equipment, personal trainers, group fitness classes, a rock-climbing wall, an indoor track, sports courts, a health-food shop, sand volleyball, a recreation pool and spa.
“I voted yes, initially, but I think most people didn’t foresee how the economy will be later on,” said Nori Kato, a junior sociology and journalism major, regarding her 2007 vote for the center. She also said the fees were worth paying because it will help make CSULB less of a commuter school.
John Guevarra, a senior sociology major, agreed. “The school is very diverse. So we need a common place to build a shared community,” Guevarra said.
But others, like CSULB student Liz Garcia, do not like the idea of having the center’s fees added to their school bill if the current economic situation continues. “I wouldn’t use it,” said Garcia, a sophomore nursing student, regarding the center. “If we’re already screwed why are we going to pay for it?”
“[Money for the center] should probably be used for something better, but being fit is kind of important,” said Raul Ravelo, a senior sociology and Chicano-Latino studies major.
Randolph Pulido, a senior communications studies student, said he disagreed with the additional fees for the recreation center.
“A lot of us have to pay out of our pocket [for school] and I’m one of them,” he said.