{"80681":{"#nid":"80681","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Puts $45 Million Face Lift on Olympic Legacy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the 2004 Summer Olympics begin their first full week of competition in Athens on Monday August 16, Georgia Tech will open a two-year, $45 million renovation of the site of the 1996 Olympic swimming and diving events. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERenamed the Campus Recreation Center, the athletic facility sports: a newly enclosed Olympic swimming pool and diving well; a leisure pool with a 184-foot water slide, current channel, hot tub and sun patio; three-story climbing wall; and a caf\u00e9 that overlooks the leisure pool. After enclosing the Aquatic Center, Tech added two floors above it complete with six basketball courts, exercise studios, roller hockey rink and an elevated jogging track. The renovations increase the center\u0027s indoor recreational space to approximately 300,000 square feet, a three-fold increase over the previous facility.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This facility shows a definite commitment of Georgia Tech to its students,\u0022 said Mike Edwards, director of campus recreation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe renovations give Tech a state-of-the art fitness facility, an essential tool in attracting prospective students to campus. The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association estimates that U.S. universities are scheduled to build or renovate 400 indoor recreational facilities at a cost of $4.3 billion over the next five years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If we want to remain competitive in attracting students, facilities like this are essential,\u0022 said Edwards. \u0022When students visit colleges they ask \u0027Where can I play?\u0027 Universities that don\u0027t have these facilities are missing an important tool in recruiting students,\u0022 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe renovations also illustrate how owners of former Olympic sites can retool facilities built for the games for other uses while keeping the Olympic legacy alive.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Olympics provided us with a great swimming and diving facility, but there was one big problem: it wasn\u0027t enclosed. That meant that we could only use the pools four or five months out of the year,\u0022 said Edwards. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe restrictions meant Tech\u0027s swim team had to find someplace else to practice during the fall and much of the spring semester. It also meant that Tech couldn\u0027t host swim meets. Now that renovations are complete, Tech is scheduled to host both the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships next February and the NCAA Men\u0027s Swimming and Diving Championships in March 2006.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBut enclosing the pool was only the beginning, said Edwards. \u0022The Olympics provided us with the anchor to build around. Hastings \u0026amp; Chivetta Architects came up with the idea to use the space between the pool deck and the roof - space that would otherwise be wasted - to put in the basketball courts, studios and jogging track,\u0022 said Edwards. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe leisure pool with waterslide was another departure from traditional university recreation centers. \u0022Not everybody\u0027s a competitive swimmer,\u0022 said Debbie Dorsey, aquatic manager. \u0022The leisure pool gives non-competitive swimmers a way to participate and offers graduate students with families a place to play.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Very few people don\u0027t like water parks. And that\u0027s what we have,\u0022 added Edwards.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new center also increased the fitness area from 6,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet. That\u0027s approximately one square foot per student, which Edwards said is the gold standard in college recreation centers. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe fitness area features treadmills and elliptical bikes with TV\u0027s imbedded in each one and more than 15,000 pounds of weights, according to Jon Hart, GIT FIT manager for Campus Recreation. Four racquetball courts and one squash court are adjacent to the fitness floor as is the three-story climbing wall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve had many freshmen wander in here with their parents over the summer who were amazed at our new facility,\u0022 said Edwards. \u0022They say it\u0027s wonderful that they\u0027ll be able to come here to take their mind off the stresses of being a student.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"As the 2004 Summer Olympics begin their first full week of competition in Athens on Monday August 16, Georgia Tech will open a two-year, $45 million renovation of the site of the 1996 Olympic swimming and diving events.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Campus Recreation Center  Re-opens"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2004-08-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:58","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2004-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2004-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"80691":{"id":"80691","type":"image","title":"A swimmer enjoys the water slide.","body":null,"created":"1449178079","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:59","changed":"1475894696","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:56"},"80701":{"id":"80701","type":"image","title":"Indoor Waterslide","body":null,"created":"1449178079","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:59","changed":"1475894696","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:56"}},"media_ids":["80691","80701"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.campusrecreation.gatech.edu\/","title":"Campus Recreation Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}