The Shirk Center

In September, expansion of Shirk Center will begin.  The expansion is to meet the growing needs of students.

“It’s not just for the athletes. It’s for all the students,” Athletics Director Dennie Bridges said.  “The present fitness center is about half the size we need.”

When Shirk Center opened in 1994, personal fitness wasn’t a huge deal among students, Bridges said, noting that female students almost never went to the old Fred Young Fieldhouse. Now both genders are regular users of the fitness facilities and at times they have to wait a while to use the machines, he said.

In addition, the number of student athletes has grown from 294 to 520 in the past 20 years.  The growth in number of student athletes is due to the addition of men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s lacrosse.

A two-story expansion of the building is planned.  It will extend 75 feet into the parking lot on the east side of the building.  The second floor of the addition will feature a fitness center with two multi-purpose rooms. The first floor will have five new locker rooms, a satellite training room, and space for storage.  The current fitness area is to be converted to weight training.

“It’s been in the dream process for about five years,” Bridges said. “We just got serious about it in the last year.”  Bridges hopes the project can be done with minimal disruption with the new area ready for use in November 2015.