NORMAL -- Illinois State University's student fitness center won't be ready until late 2010, but the massive 155,000 square-feet structure is taking shape on Main Street and getting notice.

Matthew Johnson of Elmhurst, on campus for a two-day freshman orientation program, said the big project is kind of hard not to see, and his peers had been talking about it. A freshman this fall, he said he'll use the weight room at Wright Hall this year. But he's looking forward to the new center's spring 2011 opening.

"I'll definitely be using it," he said.

His parents, Neal and Patty Johnson, walked with him Wednesday on the quad, near part of the building. Patty Johnson said the new giant fitness centers seem to be a trend on college campuses. She noted the Indiana campus where their daughter attends just completed such a facility.

"It's definitely a selling point to students," she said.

The ISU construction site encompasses the area that, until last summer, was home to Dunn, Barton and Walker residence halls.

It's the single largest capital project in ISU history. When finished, the $60 million Student Fitness and Kinesiology Recreation building promises to be a state-of-the art facility for students.

Funded through student fees and internal ISU budgets, the building will replace the smaller, often overcrowded, Campus Recreation Center on Beech Street.

"It's going to take them all summer to work on getting the structural beams in place and the roof on," said Al Feltner, ISU director of construction administration.

Earlier this week, about 75 construction workers swarmed through the L-structure like bees in a hive -some worked cranes to lift steel beams and diggers moved earth, some walked along the roofline and others worked on various specialties. River City Construction is the general contractor.

Come fall and winter, crews will use temporary exterior coverings and begin work on the interior. Final touches will include glass installation, including across the running track.

Standing at the corner of University and Dale streets, Feltner pointed northwest, to the building's main entrance, near its pools and recreation gyms.

Looking east, he pointed to the steel, oval running track that's been installed high on the building's third floor, and the second floor walkway beneath it. With only vertical steel beams in place, the track and walkway appear suspended mid-air.

The walkway will connect with a section for the bulk of the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. The eastern section is positioned on the quad and uses part of a renovated McCormick Hall.

The fitness center has projects on South University Street that have kept Feltner and crews busy this summer:

- The $8 million southeast power plant near Atkin Hall will provide cooled water piped to the fitness center, Fell Hall and the College of Business building. It should be finished next year.

- The second parking deck for south campus, a $6 million structure where the tennis courts once stood, should be ready by mid-August.

To the west, the St. Robert Bellarmine Newman Center is building a chapel, and the town is working on the road itself, sometimes reducing traffic to one lane in that stretch.

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ISU student fitness center

The $60 million ISU Student Fitness and Kinesiology Recreation Building should be complete by late 2010.

Size: 155,000 gross square feet

Uses: Pools, running track, gyms, weight and cardio equipment, rock wall for climbing, locker rooms, lounges, classrooms and offices.

Green details: ISU won't seek certification, but will build a green, energy-efficient building.

On the Net: http://www.facilitiesplanning.ilstu.edu/projects/projects/student_rec_building.shtml