A state-of-the-art facility named in honor of former president Dr. Royce Money and his wife, Pam
Sun streams through full-length windows overlooking the new leisure pool.
Photographer Steve Butman also toured the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center this month. Here are some of his photos of the work as it progresses.
The outline of the new leisure pool is visible beneath the towering framework of the facility's east-facing window.
Brick continues to overlay the fireproofing, drywall and waterproofing that turned the new student wellness center’s bones and skin first gray then yellow then black, but the internal work has remained largely hidden from view — until now.
Inside the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center, the outlines of a new leisure pool are in place, the concrete floor has been poured for the new jogging track, and the offices for the renamed Center for Counseling and Medical Care have taken shape.
Likewise, the reconfiguration of the original classrooms and faculty and athletics offices in Abilene Christian University’s original Gibson Center is no longer left to the imagination.
Follow the jump to see more photos and updates about the construction, now a little more than five months away from completion, and click on the thumbnails to see larger versions of the photos.
Alex Potess has more reason than most students to be excited about the opening this year of the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
As the student worker in the Office of Campus Aesthetics, she has had a key role in selecting paint colors, furniture styles and even trash cans for Abilene Christian University’s new facility. It’s a job she’s used to by now; she did the same thing for the recently opened AT&T Learning Studio.
“Alex pushed us in the direction of things to consider” in the Learning Studio, said Mary Reyes, director of Campus Aesthetics, and as work heats up on the wellness center, “Alex will be heavily involved.”
Alex, senior interior design and pre-architecture major from Lubbock, picked out the bold, vibrant colors and trendy furnishings of the Learning Studio, and when it opened, she was able to see the results of her work on the walls and in front of the desks now used constantly by ACU students.
“It was really cool,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen something I’ve worked on come to life. I can actually walk through and experience it for myself.”
Working on the wellness center has made her so excited, Alex said she pushed her last exercise science class into the fall semester so she could attend class in the new building. To read more about how Alex came to ACU and the vision she has for her life, visit her profile page on the ACU website.
A diagram showing one of Techno Gym's newest machines, the Crossover, which will be included in the Student Recreation and Wellness Center
Students will get a taste of Italy in their new wellness center — though it will be felt in the presence of aerobics and weight equipment, not pasta or pizza.
Technogym, an Italian company that markets itself as a high-tech, whole-wellness equipment manufacturer, will provide most of the workout machines featured in the new Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center on the Abilene Christian University campus.
“They’re truly a wellness company, not just fitness,” said Dr. Kerri Hart, soon to be the SRWC director of training and fitness programming.
Central to Technogym’s work in installing its equipment in the wellness center will be the inclusion of a wellness key — a device similar in appearance and function to a USB flash drive that will allow students to “log in” to the center and each machine, coordinate workouts and receive credit for classes. [See a brochure describing the key.]
With more than five dozen applicants from around the world, work has begun in earnest to hire an executive director for the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center, a process that could be complete before May.
A nine-member search committee is interviewing candidates in hopes of recommending a finalist to Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean of student life, in April. That deadline might be pushed back, however, thanks to the weeklong ice-related closure of campus in early February.
“We would like to have the person in question be able to visit on campus during the semester,” said Dr. Jeff Arrington, associate vice president of student life.
The search committee comprises:
According to the job description posted on ACU’s website, the executive director will be expected to manage the facility’s budget, recruit and develop staff for the center and guide the development of policies for the facility — doing all these in close collaboration with Hart and Swedlund.
That means the executive director will be working to bridge the academic and student life components within the center.
“We’re looking for someone with academic credentials and experience in the recreation and wellness field,” Arrington said, “who has a history of a collaborative work style.”
The facility is expected to feature a large number of student workers from numerous academic disciplines, and the executive director will be responsible for implementing a process that allows students the ability to become vital cogs in the day-to-day operation of the facility, including service on the center’s Collaborative Management Team, Arrington said.
Likewise, the team is seeking someone who embodies the whole-wellness philosophy of the center as represented in Mark 12:30 — “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.”
“I’m hoping for someone who has a passion for wellness, has a lifestyle of wellness,” Arrington said, adding that the academic side of the facility’s programming is essential. “We really envision the center as the facility to support both research and activities in the Department of Exercise Science and Health.
Beginning shortly after spring break, Arrington said, finalists will be brought to campus to tour and interview with the search team, with a final recommendation Thompson in April. More than 60 people — men and women, internal and external candidates, including two from outside the United States — applied for the position, and the team continues to accept applications, he said.
Joel Swedlund is well known at Abilene Christian University as the friendly face behind the operations of the McGlothlin Campus Center. But on June 1, Swedlund will leave his job as Campus Center manager and become director of facility operations for the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center, joining Dr. Kerri Hart and an as-yet unnamed executive director as the three principal administrators of the new facility.
What will your new role entail?
Primarily I will be responsible for hiring, training and mentoring student employees in the new wellness center.
I will also be engaged in the marketing of the center’s functions and events to our students. I will also work closely with [ACU’s cleaning service] WFF and Physical Resources to maintain the clean and safe environment we desire for our students, and I’ll be the designated emergency manager for the facility. I’ll be wearing a lot of hats, but those are some of the things that will keep me busy.
What are you doing now to prepare for the opening in the fall?
Right now we are developing policies and procedures for the facility, as well as working with various vendors to ensure the center is 100 percent ready for use on the day we open the doors to our students.
How will your job interact with Dr. Kerri Hart’s and the new executive director’s?
It will be a collaborative effort — bringing together folks from different divisions and departments across campus.
I, along with Kerri, will report directly to the executive director. While we will each have specific roles and specific areas to oversee, operating the new facility will require a team effort. Kerri and I have been working on many projects in preparation for the opening, and we are very excited about having the executive director in his or her new role soon!
What are the biggest challenges you face in taking a job like this? The biggest opportunities?
The biggest challenge will be having everything and everyone in place for the opening of the center. We want this to be a premier facility from Day 1, and a great number of things need to be accomplished in order for that to happen.
As for opportunities, they are almost unlimited. First and foremost, we want to serve our student body body in all aspects of their life journey. We want students to have a deep understanding of wellness. This center will not just be another gym. It will be a space that students use to become the healthiest version of themselves that God wants them to be — heart, soul, strength and mind. That’s why the university’s leadership intentionally housed the medical clinic, the counseling center and the physical workout areas under the same roof.
How will students interact with you in the new center? In other words, when would a student approach you for something?
A student can approach me about anything and everything. I want to be there as a resource for our student employees and student body. When students have questions, concerns or new ideas about how the center could be better utilized, I want to be there to give answers and solutions and to think through new possibilities with them. The students are my No. 1 priority, and I want that to be obvious in all that I do.
When you talk about having everything in place, what specifically does that entail?
We have to complete our policies and procedures manual and hire student employees, and be in communication with them because we’re going to have to hire and train them before the facility opens and be in contact with them about policies and procedures as they change.
There are details as small as ordering towels. We’ve already ordered the workout equipment, but we also have to order classroom and office furnitureand equipment, and we need to coordinate moving it in so they don’t all show up on the same day. But we also need to get them moved in fast enough for the building to open on time.
We have to coordinate with campus tours on what to show and what should or shouldn’t be said on the tours. We have to plan a grand opening. We have to get students into the card-reader system. We have to train student workers on software that will be used in the center. After we get the certificate of occupancy, we have to do things like fill up the pools and make sure the chemicals are balanced.
It’s not going to feel like summer! That’s one of the reasons we’re excited to have the new executive director take over — to provide some leadership but also to provide another body to share the load.
A second anonymous donor has added $1 million to the matching challenge announced last week.
The combined $3 million challenge gift will match 1:1 any gift or pledge made by June 30 to the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center at Abilene Christian University.
If fully matched, the gifts would push fundraising for the $21 million facility to more than $17.5 million.
For more information about giving to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, contact Don Garrett by email or by calling (325) 674-2213.
A $2 million challenge grant from an anonymous donor has the potential to push fundraising for the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center well past the $15 million mark.
The gift will match on a 1-to-1 basis all gifts made to the facility before June 30.
If fully matched, the gift in combination with those it matches would bring the fundraising total for the building to $15.56 million. Construction on the $21 million center at Abilene Christian University is scheduled to be completed early this fall.
“This is a tremendous first step in our final push to raise the funds for this state-of-the-art center,” said Phil Boone, vice president for Advancement. “Not only will those who give double the effects of their gifts, but they will be giving in honor of a tremendous couple and in support of our exceptional students, who will benefit immensely from this wonderful building.”
The 113,000-square-foot facility, named in honor of the beloved former president, Dr. Royce Money, and his wife, Pam, is an expansion and renovation of the Gibson Health and Physical Education Center, which was built in 1968. The Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which was designed with significant student input, will feature cutting-edge technology and equipment, an elevated jogging track, a new pool and wet classroom area, and numerous other amenities. It will also house the Medical and Counseling Clinic for Care in an effort to focus on all aspects of students’ well-being.