The new South Campus Recreation Center at Ole Miss is set for a soft-opening in July that will ease the facility into its operations heading into the 2019–2020 academic year.
The $32 million project, which had originally been discussed during the Chancellor Khayat administration, was approved in 2014 and broke ground in 2017 on the site of the of the old Whirlpool factory south of Highway 6 on Chucky Mullins Drive. The building is a repurposing of that factory, and was supposed to be completed in Fall 2018. It has been pushed back subsequent times since then.
Director of Campus Recreation Peter Tulchinsky said that the delays were not entirely unexpected due to the nature of the project.
“The building is behind schedule, but there are a lot of issues that we’re working with on this building, whereas if you were working with a project that you started from scratch, wouldn’t have had those same issues, but we’re repurposing not only a building, but an entire site,” he said.
While the Turner Center will remain open due to having amenities that the new facility will not, such as a pool, the South Campus Recreation Center will put Ole Miss on par with other Southeastern Conference recreation facilities.
“It’s got some stuff that we’ve desperately needed, from a space standpoint.” Tulchinsky said. “It’s got some spaces that aren’t within an hour radius of Oxford, such as a climbing tower, bouldering space, indoor soccer/floor hockey space, functional training space. All of those things are going to be unique to our community, and we’ll be able to accommodate people in a way that we might not have been able to in Turner.”
The facility will also feature an outdoor space with two fields adjacent to the building, with a covered patio for outdoor programming, as well as 700 parking spaces for Park-n-Ride, commuter, faculty and staff parking that will serve as the transportation hub on campus with a bus line that will take patrons to the Observatory on campus.
It also includes the William Magee Center for Wellness Education, which will focus on holistic well-being and alcohol and drug education. The new center will have three times the fitness space as the Turner Center, with a brand new indoor track and basketball courts. It will feature 4,000 square feet of training area inside and another 2,000 outside, as well as one of the tallest slam walls in the country and an indoor high ropes course.
Assistant Director of Facility Operations Jason Shirkey said that the new recreation center will try to cater to not only the students of Ole Miss, but Oxford too.
“I have friends that go to other gyms in the community and are ready to become members once this new facility opens,” he said.
Part of Campus Recreation’s budget allows for the hiring of an expanded staff. Between 160 and 200 staff members currently work at the Turner Center, but when the new recreation center opens, that number will grow to between 250 and 300, including a few new administrative positions.
Current program assistant Jake DeBouck will be among those making the switch to the new facility once it opens.
“It’s going to be a big responsibility,” he said. “But I think this will be big for campus recreation and Ole Miss as a whole.”