Illinois State University

Normal, IL

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to enhance the quality of life of our unique members by educating and encouraging active participation in recreational opportunities that develop leadership skills, foster social interaction, and reinforce healthy behaviors.

FACILITY AMENITIES

The Student Fitness Center and McCormick Hall provide a wealth of opportunities for the Illinois State University community. This state-of-the-art, 170,000-square-foot facility serves as the home for campus recreation, health promotion and wellness, and the School of Kinesiology and Recreation.

Climbing wall and bouldering cave: At 47 feet tall, this is the main focal point of the lobby. The climbing wall features routes for every skill level, including traditional handholds for beginners and natural ledges and crevices for advanced climbers.
Pool: The pool is broken into two sections, a leisure area and a lap area. The leisure area goes from three feet to three-and-a-half feet for activities such as water basketball and water volleyball while lap swimming has four lanes, each 25 yards long.
Sport courts: Three multi-purpose sport courts are featured in the gymnasium area. Two have wood flooring and are utilized for basketball, volleyball, and badminton with scoreboards and seating have been added to assist in holding special events. The third court has a multipurpose surface and a dashboard system, making it ideal for indoor soccer and floor hockey. This space is shared between Kinesiology and Recreation and campus recreation as an academic support space for activity based courses.
First and second floor fitness areas: These spaces offer over 300 pieces of cardio and strength training equipment in the 22,000 square feet allocated in the facility. The first floor area is also used for academic courses Monday through Friday. The free weight space features natural light, televisions, mirrors and a wide variety of equipment for those who are newcomers or those who might be experts.
Fitness Studios: With four fitness studios, the rec center hosts over 60 classes each week. Three of the studios feature wood floors, equipment storage and a multi-speaker system, with one featuring a ballet bar. These studios hold between 30 and 50 participants for yoga, Pilates, Zumba, hip hop, total body strength, HIIT and more. The fourth studio is the cycling studio with a multi-purpose floor and options for black light and virtual reality cycling. This space is home to the new Life Fitness IC6 bikes and Coach by Color system.
Track: This three-lane, eighth-of-a-mile jogging track is suspended over University Street with the floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding the track to help bring the outside in and take advantage of the natural light.

The Gregory Street Fields are home to many of our competitive sports programs spanning over 17 acres and used for six softball or flag football fields, three soccer fields, and a sport club multipurpose field.

The Redbird Adventure Center and High Ropes Course is coming in Fall 2018. This new 5,600-square-foot facility will be home to the adventure rental and trips programs complete with a conference room and group area for team building. The High Ropes Course features 27 different activities, also called elements. This new course is designed in a way that those with and without disabilities can experience challenge and support together, making it universally accessible. This allows groups to stay together as they grow through activities on the ground and up in the air. On this new ropes course, 80 percent of elements (22 out of the 27) are universally adaptable.

FUN FACTS

A special feature is called the Bridge, which is literal and figurative. The Bridge connects the Student Fitness Center to McCormick Hall, the home of campus recreation, to the home of the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. It’s a connection of physical spaces, programs with academics, and building of student successes.
In celebration of the Student Grand Opening, and to kick off the festivities, over 700 students attempted to break the World Record for the largest game of tag as the first official event in the brand new building.
In just over two years after opening, the Student Fitness Center welcomed it’s One Millionth Guest on January 29, 2013!
Women Weight Room hours are available in the first floor weight room, Monday-Friday and were expanded, doubling the amount of time. These hours were increased due to popularity, and in collaboration with the Student Government Association and their initiative to provide more inclusive activities on campus.
In collaboration with the Therapeutic Recreation class each year, Adaptapalooza is an event that promotes recreational activities for users with limited mobility.
The Student Fitness Center lobby is home to our campus’s first Starbucks.
First Annual Soaring Summit Climbing Competition was held April 2018 with 28 competitors, 12 routes, and up to 11,100 points earned! Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner brackets each awarded a first, second, and 3rd place winner.