The first phase of a three-year, $77 million project to expand and renovate two recreation buildings at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is under way, replacing facilities that date to the 1970s.

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"The level of usage and the type of space that we had didn't match up very well with the demand," said Gary Miller, the university's associate director of campus recreation.

"For example, about 60 percent of our users come into the facilities for some kind of strength and conditioning experience, whether a treadmill, elliptical machine, weight lifting or running on a track. We weren't anywhere close to meeting that need."

The lines were long for treadmills and basketball courts, but many of the racquetball courts stood empty. Several were converted to rooms for free weights, spinning and personal training.

But conversions and other bandage approaches don't work forever, and in 2001, the students passed a referendum supporting the massive overhaul. Their vote is important because they are the ones paying for the upgrades. The university has about 38,000 resident students who are assessed activity fees.

"Campus recreation centers have become a much stronger element in recent years, not only as a physical activity center but as a social center," said architect Dean Huspen, senior vice president of VOA Architects in Chicago. VOA is the project's architect of record.

Phase One Work

Phase one focuses on the Campus Recreation Center East, the smaller of the two facilities. It was built in 1988, primarily as a racquetball and volleyball center, with about 29,000 sq. ft. Four years later, 6,000 sq. ft. of strength and conditioning space were added.

The modernized facility will be nearly three times that size. Within 110,000 sq. ft. will be a gymnasium that can accommodate roller and floor hockey, a one-eighth-mi. indoor running track, locker rooms and multipurpose space for group fitness activities, intramurals and sports clubs.

The jewel of the building is an all-new aquatic center, measuring about 100 ft. by 80 ft., complete with leisure pool, slide, waterfall and 12-person spa. A sophisticated mechanical system will control temperature, humidity and eye and nose irritants.

"That's where we spend a whole lot of money users don't see but really appreciate because eyes don't burn anymore and you don't smell chlorine," Miller said.

Phasing the work lengthens the process but allows the university to offer continuous service to students. Phase one, during which CRCE is closed, includes a gymnasium addition to the Intramural Physical Education building about a mile away. The phase began in October and will be completed this fall. That's when phase two begins.

IMPE, which was built in 1971, will then close for expansion and renovation, from 220,000 sq. ft. to 340,000 sq. ft. Completion is planned for fall 2006.

The two recreation buildings have been given pet names that are widely known throughout campus, Miller said. IMPE is referred to as "Impy," while the smaller CRCE is called "Wimpy."

"We tried to discourage the use of Impy and Wimpy but finally gave up," he added with a chuckle.

Accommodating Georgian Style

The exteriors of the additions will be appointed with materials that blend in with the Georgian vernacular of significant neighboring buildings, Huspen said.

"Everything is basically a university blend of brick colors," he added. "The roofs are standing-seam metal roofs that follow the forms of other buildings."

Judicious use of glass lends modern touches. The leisure pool area will be "very glassy," with an expanse of windows along the west side, Huspen said. IMPE will feature a large barrel-vault skylight to create a winter garden effect in the fitness atrium.

"Although we are doing a lot of renovation, we're also adding a lot of new architectural elements," he added.

Within the project are many smaller, vastly different projects, said project manager Bob Jilke of Williams Bros. Construction Inc. of Peoria, Ill., the general contractor.
Structural steel is going up outside and inside. A mechanical room is being added to the second floor. The hockey rink, aquatic center and interior and exterior finishes are part of the mix, too.

"It's a very complicated addition and a short period of time," and everyone is working within cramped quarters, Jilke said. "It takes coordination," he added. "Every contractor has superintendents onsite to coordinate with each other where they are going to be that day and that week. Many contractors are staging their materials in other areas in town, either at their offices or renting storage space."

Early spring rains slowed them down but by now the additions are under roof.

"We had to fight rain and mud and the water kept coming," Jilke said. "We got very wet."

The project is being paid for entirely through student activity fee increases, which take effect after completion, but there is the $77 million ceiling. Working within that budget, the team is still tweaking the final specs.

The base construction cost is $55 million, roughly divided one-third for the first phase and two-thirds for the second. That doesn't include contingencies or a couple dozen wish list items. The phase one steel has been erected, but what the price will be for phase two is anyone's guess.

""If I've got X amount of dollars and the base bid costs me this much, I've got some money left over," Miller said. "Then you start playing with contingencies and alternates.
Is it more important for me to replace a wood floor or put in a patio? That's the way you have to look at your money."

Miller is optimistic about the immediate future and beyond. Before the project began, the two facilities attracted about a million visits a year. He expects that number to triple after the work is finished.

"We're confident we're going to be pretty close to our schedule and that we'll open in the fall and our users will be happy," he said. "And then a couple of years after that, they'll be ecstatic."