If you are looking to do something this Saturday other than join the mass of people watching football, don’t go to the Student Recreation Center; it will be closed.
As of this fall, the student rec-center will be unavailable to students during the Saturdays that CSU has football games in the new on-campus stadium.
The decision to close the rec-center was made by Judy Muenchow, the executive director of campus recreation, after deliberation with several committees, including the Campus Recreation Department leadership team, the Campus Recreation Student Advisory Board, and colleagues involved in the Stadium Game Day Experience Committee.
“The option to remain open was considered along with closing the Rec Center,” Muenchow wrote in an email to the Collegian. “Ultimately the unknown factors, beyond staffing and access to the Rec Center, swayed the decision to close the Rec Center for the inaugural football season.”
As part of the Stadium Game Day Experience Committee, Muenchow said some of the factors that influenced the decision to close the rec-center included the number of visitors to the rec-center during last year’s games, risk management requirements and a lack of communication from the Mountain West Conference about dates and times of games in advance.
Employees of Campus Recreation were involved with this decision last year and were given the opportunity to voice their input, according to Muenchow.
Muenchow said the Student Recreation Center is primarily funded through student fees and that there have been a few inquiries about its closure. However, she said there are still plans to test having it open to students on game days. There are currently plans to keep the rec-center open before the evening game with Boise State on Nov. 11.
“This date provides an opportunity to test opening the Rec Center, assess participation rates, and survey users for input,” Muenchow wrote.
Some students feel inconvenienced by the closed rec-center on Saturday. Sophomore business student Max Nichols said he was not pleased when he heard the rec-center would be closed.
“I don’t like it,” Nichols said. “I would normally play basketball on weekends,”
Freshman business student James Gilliam said the closure is not at a time that affects him.
“It’s okay with me because I wouldn’t work out then — I would be doing other things on a Saturday,” Gilliam said.
Other facilities on campus will still be operational. The Lory Student Center can host events in its ballrooms during games but the theater is reserved for the CSU marching band as a place to warm up, according to Michael Ellis, the executive director of the LSC. Ellis said student clubs and organizations can still use the LSC.
“Student organizations, campus departments, and off-campus groups have access to available rooms during game-day weekends,” Ellis said in an email to the Collegian.
While those who wanted to use the rec-center this Saturday may be out of luck, Muenchow said the decision to be closed for all games is not final.
“There is a plan to assess the campus impact from game day operations related to the viability for partially or fully opening the rec-center on game days,” Muenchow wrote.
