| On the road to active living | | Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012 4:41 PM |
| | NEWS |
| This is an exciting time for Bison Recreation Services, the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, and for the U of M as we embark on a new era of active living for our campus and external communities. The Frank Kennedy Centre will begin its journey towards the new Active Living Centre this spring with the complete renovation of the men’s and women’s locker rooms.
The project is the first phase of the overall plan that will result in the opening of the new 100,000 square foot Active Living Centre scheduled for 2014.
The new building will house a state-of-the-art indoor running track, a 40-foot climbing wall, a social gathering area for students, a strength and conditioning room, a group workout area and many more features that will positively impact the 7,800 students and 1,000 staff and community members who use the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management’s current recreational facility at the U of M.
The spring renovation project to the locker rooms will require a complete closure of the two spaces for a four to five month period beginning on April 23, with a tentative re-opening scheduled for early September, 2012.
As the first phase of the Active Living Centre project, the resulting locker room space will be part of the new centre.
While the closure will impact the members and program participants temporarily, the renovation will bring long overdue upgrades to the member space as this is the first scheduled face-lift to the Frank Kennedy Centre since its opening in 1972.
The renovation schedule includes:
- Expansion of the women’s room to accommodate more lockers
- The addition of more privacy showers in the women’s room
- New lockers in both men’s and women’s rooms
- New benches in both men’s and women’s rooms
- A complete renovation of the existing rest/shower facilities in both rooms including new toilets, sinks, counter tops and shower heads
- New paint throughout both rooms
Bison Recreation Services (BRS), housed within the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, is responsible for membership services. BRS has put in place a series of plans to address the concerns of members during this time. Members are asked to freeze their locker service until the re-opening.
Gary Thompson, director of active living, explains that the decision to close the locker rooms was responsive to members’ needs and wishes.
“The locker room and Active Living Centre projects will be transformative for the U of M. Seventy nine percent of the members that responded to our locker renovation survey suggested that we execute a complete shutdown of the locker rooms during the renovations so that we could re-open in September 2012.
“Thank you to all of our members for their patience and all of our staff for their extra efforts during this transition.”
Bison Recreation Services will accommodate members through this time by making available temporary day use lockers and by providing three alternative change/shower/rest facilities for member use to minimize disruption during the closure period.
For information, see website at link below. |
|  | | For more information, contact:
Catherine-Grace Peters
Phone: (204) 480-1475
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