October 8, 2009

Several Hundred Attend $32 Million Fitness Center Expansion Groundbreaking

The seasonal breezes kicked up the spirits of the roughly 300 Miners and guests who attended the ceremonial groundbreaking for the $32 million expansion of UTEP’s Swimming and Fitness Center Thursday afternoon outside the center, 3124 Sun Bowl.

The crowd gathered under canopies on the grassy area outside the center to hear the speakers promote the teamwork and leadership throughout the UT System that has worked to make the expansion a reality.

Richard Padilla, Ed.D., vice president of student affairs, lauded the altruism of the many students who have worked on the project for years knowing that they would graduate well before the facility opened in 2011.

The 90,000 square-foot addition will include a 1/8-mile indoor running track, a rock-climbing wall, an expanded exercise area, an indoor soccer arena, racquetball courts, and a multipurpose room for basketball and volleyball.

“This is a gift that is being passed forward to fellow students who they will never meet,” Padilla told the crowd, many of whom wore special T-shirts that marked the occasion.

The project also will involve renovations to the existing swimming and fitness center and improvements to the outdoor field to include lights and synthetic turf.

UTEP President Diana Natalicio told the crowd that this student-driven project was another example of the University’s growing appetite to improve in aspects beyond academics.

After the speeches, Natalicio and members of the project’s planning committee ventured into the adjacent sand pit that used to be a volleyball court. It was decorated with the types of exercise equipment that could be used or rented at the new center, including sports balls, kayaks and camping gear.

The group took ceremonial golden spades and turned several shovelfuls of sand before breaking for a traditional miner “bean feed” of hot dogs, chips and sodas. Pantastic, UTEP’s steel drum show band, performed as the people ate.

Alex Muñoz, Student Government Association president, said the groundbreaking celebrated the will and commitment of everyone in the UT System, especially the UTEP students who led the charge.

“This is an example of the hard work and involvement of our students,” he said.