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On August 20, 2012, over 28 months after its ground breaking, the Bill R. Foster and Family Recreation Center opened its doors for use during an official ribbon cutting that was held in the new center’s grand lobby. The ceremony, which was open to the public, had several hundred in attendance, including students, faculty, staff, administrators, members of the Board of Governors and Foundation Board of Trustees, as well as many private donors for the project including members of the Foster Family after whom the facility is named.
At the ribbon cutting multiple representatives from the University spoke, discussing the impression the new building and its offerings have already made and will continue to make on the campus for generations to come, as well as expressing the tremendous gratitude the campus has for the many donors that made the dream of the recreation center a reality. President Clifton M. “Clif” Smart III noted, “What a building! The Foster Family Recreation Center is a game changer for current students and prospective students.”
The facility, which started as a student-funded feasibility study in 2004, has now transformed the northeastern corner of Madison St. and John Q. Hammons Boulevard into a 100,000 square foot, $30,000,000, state-of-the-art recreation center. The Foster Center, from the earliest stages, has been a student-led initiative, with students involved in every step of the process including site selection, facility design, and floor layout and interior planning. Paige Oxendine, current Student Body President, said of the Foster Recreation Center, “This building and everything it contains and what it is bringing to our campus is amazing. This facility will truly change the university in the best way possible.”
The Foster Recreation Center contains an indoor jogging track, a 24 foot tall climbing and bouldering wall, an outdoor bouldering wall, a massive cardio and weight training fitness center, basketball courts, volleyball courts, a multi-activity court, a wellness suite, multiple studios for fitness classes, a sauna, and multiple community spaces. The facility also includes an expansive aquatics center, that features a 7,000 square foot pool with lap lanes, underwater seating, hydrotherapy jets, a current channel, a fourteen seat spa, spaces for water basketball and volleyball, an aquatics classroom, and a zip line from which students can drop into the pool.
While all current students on the Springfield campus have full access to the new Foster Recreation Center, faculty, staff, students that paid into the facility before it opened, active alumni, university affiliates and household members also can purchase memberships or day passes to use the many features and options available.
You can find out more information about the facility and memberships by visiting the Bill R. Foster and Family Recreation Center website.
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