NORMAL - In less than two years, the heart of the Illinois State University campus probably will be a lot healthier and younger-looking.

A $43.5 million proposal to construct a massive Student Fitness and Kinesiology/Recreation Center - in the works for a decade - is expected to get the ISU board of trustees' thumbs-up at its Oct. 26 meeting. If that happens, the 170,000-square-foot facility might start taking shape as early as this summer.

In May 2006, the board authorized ISU leaders to spend more than $2.2 million to work with architects and create a design. Since then, a committee including student and administrative representatives has brainstormed, visited other sites, and defined its plan.

"This is a big project for us. It's big in terms of its cost, big in terms of its square footage and because of where it would be located," said Dick Runner, ISU facilities planning director. Plans call to raze three older residence halls along Main Street and part of McCormick Gym to accommodate the new building in the campus' central core.

About $30 million for the project will be financed from increased student fees; the remaining funding is from the university's general resources, primarily tuition increases, said Steve Bragg, ISU finance vice president.

"Being student-funded, we've had a lot of input for designs," said Dave Horstein, 22, ISU's student body president. He sits on a committee that also includes architects from PSA Dewberry Inc., university architect Rick Kentzler, staff from ISU facilities, student affairs, campus recreation services, and the College of Applied Science and Technology.

Horstein is excited about the plan that calls for a main entrance featuring an impressive rock-climbing wall, and a combination of connected activity spaces, with an open feel. A large pool, triple the offering of cardio and weights equipment, and gymnasium space is just part of the proposed facility.

Plans also call for an open-space design. A balcony with cardio equipment overlooks a social lounge, where mini areas are tied together.

"There's a vibrancy, a connectedness to it," said Runner, noting the committee pulled ideas from several Chicago-area and similar university facilities

"The students I've talked to are excited about this," agreed Horstein. "And I think it's good that ISU is recognizing that this is an essential part of making a healthy campus culture. It's a trend of our times; our generation is health conscious," he said.

Those changing expectations of students, and a growth in academic disciplines focused on the physicality of sports and exercise, mean ISU can't put off building the fitness center, said president Al Bowman.

"I recognize in some ways we're talking about an amenity here, and not an essential," said Bowman. "But we're trying to recruit a different kind of student than we were 20 years ago. The brightest, high-achieving students simply aren't attracted to an institution with outdated and inadequate facilities."

Fitting in kinesiology

The three-story structure, expected to take up roughly 1.5 city blocks along the Main Street Corridor and neighboring University Street, would house ISU's School of Kinesiology and Recreation and replace the much-criticized Beech Street campus recreation building.

The kinesiology school is one of the largest departmental programs at ISU, with nearly 1,000 students, said director Dave Thomas, adding ISU sends more physical education teachers into Illinois schools than any other state university.

"This shows students that the university values fitness and nutrition - that it's part of a university philosophy," said Thomas.

Currently, the kinesiology school is spread across campus, with offices and instructional space in both McCormick and Horton Field House and some practical training at the Beech Street building. The new center would bring under one roof functions currently spread among eight campus locations.

Bringing the school and its major study areas - athletic training, exercise science and recreation, and park administration - under one roof with ISU's recreation services and its wellness program makes sense, he said.

"We're concerned with the same things," said Thomas, noting kinesiology and recreation students often work part time at the Beech Street center.

As proposed, kinesiology offices would be in the east portion of McCormick Hall; the area that faces the quad's southern edge would be gutted and renovated. McCormick Gym to the west and its indoor pool would fall to the wrecking ball.

Long time coming

While the emphasis is on building a new facility, following through would mean the razing of some of Illinois State's oldest structures: Dunn-Barton and Walker residence halls, also called central campus.

More than 800 students normally are housed in the central campus dorms. Just how the university plans to absorb those spaces is unclear. ISU requires all freshmen and sophomores to live in the dorms, except in isolated cases.

Mindy Mangialardi, ISU associate director of residential life, said university housing is making the reorganizing plan a priority.

For more than a decade, student leaders have vocally campaigned for a new recreation center. In 2002, about 25 percent of ISU's 20,000 students voted on whether to support increasing student fees to finance the venture. More than half the voters thought a fee increase was warranted, if it meant a better fitness facility.

For the last decade, ISU's master plan has called for a new site to be constructed by 2020. However, the strong student campaign, combined with ISU's leaders believing a center was needed as a recruitment tool, pushed it to become a priority. The student fee increase - a stair-stepping fee that's slightly higher for each incoming class through 2010 - kicked in this fall.

Paying the bill

That is the biggest part of the plan to pay for the new center, said Bragg.

Over time, more than $30 million of the cost will be footed by incoming students.

State law permits ISU to issue revenue bonds for its auxiliary facilities - such as residence halls and student centers. About $31 million of the rec center project is geared toward general student fitness programs, and so can be covered by bonds.

Initially, ISU leaders hoped to get state money to cover the other $13.5 million used for academic areas of the center, including the School of Kinesiology. Revenue bonds can't be used for those areas, he said.

However, after several years of Illinois not funding capital projects, ISU leaders decided to seek alternative financing through its own debt authorization options.

In all, the $43.5 million in debt will have to be paid back - with interest - just like homeowners face with a mortgage.

The debt from the revenue bonds portion will be covered through the gradual increase in student fees. ISU extended the "truth-in-tuition" idea to apply to its student fees, so the fee is being phased in. Students new to ISU last year paid an additional $1 per semester-credit-hour.

That goes up slightly until it tops off at a $2 increase in 2010, said Bragg.

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Planning exercise

Most space in the proposed Student Fitness and Kinesiology-Recreation Center would be for activities, with remaining area divided among classrooms, administrative offices and support areas. Here are some highlights of the plan:

Activities: 71,000 square feet

- Weights and cardio equipment (22,000 square feet)

- Gyms (24,000 square feet making up one instructional gym; and three general)

- Lap pool (7,500 square feet)

- Spinning cycles

- Aerobics rooms

- Climbing wall

- Racquetball court

- Jogging track

Classrooms/labs: 28,000 square feet

- Six labs (14,600 square feet): biomechanics research; athletics training clinical instruction; exercise physiology; psychology of sports; teaching analysis; and a human anatomy computer lab

- Classrooms (10,000 square feet for eight rooms)

- Classroom equipment storage

Administrative: 14,800 square feet

- School of Kinesiology and Recreation faculty/staff offices

- Campus recreation staff offices

- Wellness office

- Nutrition office

- Nursing storage

Support spaces: 14,900 square feet

- Men's, women's locker rooms

- Juice bar/grill

- Lounge spaces

- Outdoor adventure check-out

- Laundry and storage

SOURCE: Dick Runner, director of ISU facilities planning

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Taking shape

The idea that Illinois State University's campus recreation building isn't adequate isn't a new concept. Now, leaders hope a plan for a $43.5 million, 170,000-square-feet building could be a reality along Main Street by 2010. The site would be shared use as a student fitness center and the academic home to the ISU School of Kinesiology and Recreation, which enrolls about 1,000 students.

1990 to 2006

Early 1990s: The Campus Recreation Center at 500 N. Beech St. opens in a former ice rink to meet growing interest in fitness.

Late 1990s: Campus leaders start talking about overcrowding at the center and complaints about its distance from campus.

2002: After unsuccessfully attempting to get state capital project money for a new center, ISU opts to seek alternative financing.

March 2002: ISU student government sponsors a referendum to gauge student opinion on a proposed increase to student fees, specifically to pay for a new fitness center. About a quarter of ISU's 20,000 students voted, with more than half supporting a fee increase.

May 2006: ISU board of trustees OKs spending $2.2 million for a design phase of proposed center, estimated to cost about $38 million. Officials start to publicly talk about the Dunn-Barton and Walker halls as a likely site.

2007

Spring: Design committee visits several Chicago-area fitness centers; construction budget increased by nearly $6 million; architect PSA Dewberry Inc. submits plans to design committee.

Early fall: Design committee holds three-day development sessions on campus; students start to pay phased-in addition to student fees.

Late fall: ISU board expected to vote Oct. 26 on a construction plan. If approved, ISU would complete construction phase documents and seek bids, under the following time line:

2008 to 2010 construction

Mid spring: Select general contractor, and other bids.

Summer: Salvage furniture and other materials from Dunn-Barton and Walker halls, raze those buildings and parts of McCormick Gymnasium. Construction would begin.

2010: Target date for the facility opening is August, which coincidentally is the centennial of ISU's physical education program.

SOURCES: Office of the ISU vice president of finance; ISU Web site; Pantagraph archives