To attract full-paying college freshman, lavish recreation centers resembling spa getaways and privacy-enhanced residence halls are popping up on campuses in the Midwest.

Christopher Frye, design director in Chicago of Fairfax, Va.-based architecture firm PSA-Dewberry, said the University of Illinois at Chicago's new rec center, slated for completion this month, is "a showcase building to attract students."

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Even the site, along busy Halsted Street, was selected to make the recreation center - one of the first buildings a visitor sees - a campus gateway.
The three-story, 151,000-sq.-ft. East Campus facility houses a four-court gym, cardio and weight rooms, leisure pool, locker rooms, racquetball courts, multipurpose rooms, rock climbing wall and jogging track.
"There's less of a field house/gym atmosphere and more of a fitness/wellness center," Frye said. "It's open and transparent to put it more on display, allowing more of that energy to come to the outside."
Lounges and cafe juice bars are scattered throughout to encourage socializing, and multiple activities can be seen from central collector spaces.
At the University of Missouri, a newly renovated and expanded Student Recreation Complex opened in August. Described as "several different leisure neighborhoods," it includes cardio and fitness rooms, an aquatic center, DJ booth and juice bar.

Pay to Play

St. Louis-based Hastings + Chivetta Architects Inc. has designed more than 150 recreation and sports facilities at universities and opens >> about five to six facilities a year, including the Mizzou facility. Erik Kocher, a principal of the firm, said funding changes for student housing and rec centers also led to changes in their design and construction.

Thirty years ago, the historic field house at Mizzou with painted concrete block walls and a vinyl tile or sealed concrete floor was funded by the state's Legislature.

Now, students vote on whether to pay fees for health, athletic and computer centers. "In the past you got the minimum to meet the need," Kocher said. "With students involved, you've ratcheted up the quality and expectations for a facility."

Mizzou students voted in favor of a plan to increase fees $75 per semester to pay for the construction and operation of the $50 million recreation center. At Youngstown State University in Ohio, private donations footed the $12.1 million construction of its rec center, with $40 per semester fees covering operation costs that students approved.

The new rec centers hardly resemble the past. "Aquatic centers are not just a square body of water," Kocher said. "They come with all the frills like steam rooms, whirlpools, saunas and water slides."

Also catering to the technologically savvy Generation Y crowd, Mizzou's rec center has 75 flat screen monitors throughout for students to check e-mail, surf the Web or watch a DVD. For an extra fee, students can enjoy tanning and massages.

Students can use standard lockers or pay extra for the club locker rooms with sofas, TVs, soap and shampoo service and a designated locker.

What Students Want

All these added extras are what students want, Kocher said.

"These students have been exposed to a different level of fitness that didn't exist before," he said. "Team sports have dropped off while category fitness in private health clubs has increased. High schools are also ramping up their fitness centers.

"Some administrators swear that the new rec centers are the final touch for students picking between one state school here or another one there. It's hard to believe that a choice in institutions has come down to that."

Rec center square footages range between 50,000 and 300,000, based on campus population and fees generated.

Kocher said transparent design themes are common in the facilities.

"They look great at night," he said. "The key is how many activities can you see and look into from the outside. That markets the facilities."

The University of Dayton, which has a population of between 5,000 and 6,000 students, gets 3,000 visits a day to its rec center.

"If students go every other day, they're almost capturing the entire campus population," Kocher said.

In addition to Hastings & Chivetta, Cannon Design, with locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, and Sasaki, with offices in Boston and San Francisco, are also active in designing campus rec centers.

Valuing Privacy

Meanwhile, the days of schlepping down the hall with soap, shampoo and a towel to the dorm floor's communal shower are ancient history.

Students no longer have to figure out how to survive in dorms. Now, they live in residence halls, often in suites and sharing a bathroom with perhaps one other suite-mate.

New student housing reflects today's society.

"Students are coming from backgrounds where they're used to having their own bedroom and many times their own bathroom," said Kenneth McHugh, president and CEO of Chicago-based Institutional Project Management LLC, a firm that served as the owner's representative for the recently built University Center of Chicago, a residence hall housing students from DePaul University, Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago and Robert Morris College. "Newer facilities address that portion of the student market that's coming out of a family lifestyle that values privacy."

The construction delivery system has changed, too. "Developers build and manage them," Hastings & Chivetta's Kocher said. "They're built on college-owned land, and in 30 years, the developers give the residence hall back to the university."

However, he added that many of these residence halls are designed and built to last only 30 years. "The new residence halls are not matching the 50- to 100- year design," he said. "It's new housing at less cost to meet the needs. It's not meant to be long-term construction or architecture."

The halls have numerous amenities, but trends change quickly. "Lately, residence halls are designed as villages that provide dining as well as classrooms," Kocher said. "You can roll out of bed and go downstairs to class."

Some urban residence halls are recreating the model of apartments above retail spaces. Some old dorms are breaking down rooms to create internal suites.

The U.S. Equities-operated University Center of Chicago, which houses about 1,740 students, is fully occupied. Each resident pays $800 per month or $1,300 per month for a single studio. The 18-story facility covers 702,000 sq. ft.

"Recruiting the full-paying students is competitive, and residence halls play a major role in the marketplace," McHugh said. "Students with the best resources are attracted to rec centers and independent living."

University Center's typical four-bedroom, two-bathroom suite includes a kitchen and living room in 1,100 sq. ft. To convert it to market-rate housing, walls would be knocked down to create a two-bedroom apartment.

The ability to convert to market apartments was important to bond holders to secure a bond rating because the colleges it serves don't financially guarantee the residence hall.

The University Center includes a full-service cafeteria, laundry room,bike storage, first-floor retail, conference space, workout room and five music practice rooms. A second-floor garden terrace is just off a cozy room with a giant fireplace.

Despite the high-end nature of the design, University Center's materials are commonplace. Chicago-based Antunovich Associates, the architect, was creative with low-cost items. "You can do so much with simple millwork," McHugh said.

While universities have tapped the high-end market and responded to their need for privacy, McHugh said the next construction wave would be making the facilities more attractive and affordable.

He predicts the next wave of new student housing will meet the needs of less financially fortunate students.

In fact, McHugh recently participated in a design for a school that went back to communal bathrooms, as opposed to suites and independent living.

"The less plumbing and fixtures you have, the lower the cost," he said. "It's less expensive to build and less expensive to the students. There's still a market for students trying to eke through to get an education."

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