The new 200,000-square-foot Central Campus Recreation Building (CCRB) at the University of Michigan will be built on the same site as the current facility, with demolition scheduled for January 2023. The project’s expected finish date will be in the summer of 2025.
In 2011, a student organization called Building a Better Michigan was formed to advocate for improvements to facilities in Recreational Sports and University Unions. The CCRB replacement facility is the last project in a series of six facility improvements that have included renovations to:
- The Intramural Sports Building (IMSB)
- The North Campus Recreation Building (NCRB)
- Mitchell Field
- Two University Unions facilities
The CCRB was originally a $45 million renovation. However, after additional advocacy from students, the project became a complete replacement with a $165 million budget.
Features of the new facility will include:
- Strength and cardio equipment.
- A lap pool, recreation pool and recovery pool.
- Gymnasium courts for basketball, volleyball, badminton, pickleball and more.
- Functional fitness.
- Top-rope and speed climbing, and bouldering walls.
- Group exercise, multi-purpose rooms and a mind-body studio.
- Jogging track.
- Turf court.
- Cycling studio.
- Personal training suites.
- Dedicated racquetball and squash courts.
- Inclusive locker rooms.
- Sauna and steam room.
Mike Widen, the director of Recreational Sports at the University of Michigan, shared throughout the entire series of projects, recreation did a lot of outreach to students, members, campus partners and the University of Michigan community. As such, they were able to determine what types of spaces and activities are important to the experience. A few popular amenities because of both this outreach and growing trends include functional fitness, pickleball and inclusive locker rooms.
“The functional fitness spaces in our first two projects have been extremely popular,” said Widen. “We learned the functional fitness spaces at the IMSB and NCRB were undersized, and the new CCRB would need to incorporate more of that type of space.”
EXTRA CREDIT: Carolyn Cornelison at Agnes Scott College shares about their pickleball program here.
In addition, with the popularity of pickleball rising the new facility will have flexible court space. Plus, inclusive locker rooms have been part of all projects in the series. “We needed to create locker room spaces that allow everyone a safe, flexible space that meets their needs,” said Widen. “Inclusive locker rooms create that type of welcoming environment and help us live into our values of diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Furthermore, the new facility will create a diverse set of opportunities for engagement. With those opportunities, Widen shared Recreational Sports will be able to be more inclusive by providing something for everyone, regardless of their level of activity.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the new facility will change how our campus community experiences health and well-being,” said Widen. “People will feel more comfortable in trying out new ways to best manage their own health and well-being. If we can be one place where students and members go to get healthier, reduce stress and connect with others, we will have been successful.”
