UNLV students celebrate start of recreation centers

Thursday, March 31, 2005 | 9:16 a.m.

UNLV administrators and students ceremoniously kicked off construction on a $45 million student union and a $54 million student recreation center with a swank groundbreaking party Wednesday afternoon.

The division of Student Life spent about $25,000 for the affair, which included a multimedia presentation and buffet reception for about 350 people, Rebecca Mills, vice president for Student Life, said.

The money came from nontaxpayer funded "soft money" in the division and was designed to thank students for their contributions to the future facilities.

Students began paying $130 a semester in additional fees in fall 2004 toward the new facilities, which won't open for two to three years.

"It's a celebration for students," Mills said, standing inside one of three white tents set up for the affair. "We wanted to start off with a blast."

The groundbreaking included presentations from Mills; UNLV President Carol Harter; Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a former student body president at UNLV; and current student body president Henry Schuck.

Donald Moyer, the former UNLV president the student union is named after, was also on hand for the festivities.

Jim Snyder, KVBC News 3 anchorman, made a special appearance with Schuck in a mock newscast showing students rallying to break ground on the new facilities. KVBC News 3 is owned by Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers.

Viewers watched the fake newscast and another video showing student life at the university on two big screen televisions, set up in one of the tents on UNLV's North Field in the center of campus.

Afterward, students, staff, administrators and alumni munched on hor'devours in another tent, conversing over cocktail tables covered in red tableclothes and surrounded by little white chairs. Guests also received custom-made chocolate bars stamped with Student Life's logo, "Don't just learn it, live it."

Both the student union and the recreation center are needed to handle UNLV's enrollment growth and to continue the university's "student-centered," focus, Harter said.

The current Moyer Student Union was built in 1968 when UNLV had only 5,000 students, and the current McDermott Physical Education Complex was built in 1975 when the university had about 7,500 students, Harter said. Today, UNLV serves more than 27,500 students and is growing at a rate of 6 percent each year.

"This is really an exciting time," Harter said after the ceremony. "It's going to change the campus."

The new 135,000-square-foot student union will be built in two phases on the current site and will include a larger ballroom and conferences rooms, more student lounge areas, a 300-seat theater, a new amphitheater and additional dining options with outside vendors such as Panda Express, Taco Bell and Starbucks. The first phase is expected to open in summer 2006 and the second phase is set

The new 184,000-square-foot recreation center will include a full gym with weights and cardio equipment, rooms for group fitness classes, indoor and outdoor pools, and an indoor track. Set for completion in winter 2006, the facility will also include the student health center, the student counseling center and a full-service juice bar.

Students have been involved in every step of the planning and design process for the buildings, which they are completely paying for, Schuck said.

"I think it's a great thing," sophomore political science major Jeff Panchavinin, 23, said. "I think this (the union) is going to turn us more into a traditional school, give us a place to hang out and come together."

Jacqueline Cory Beyon, a sophomore criminal justice and psychology major, said she was a little frustrated with the $130 a semester she and other students are paying toward the two facilities' costs. Students who graduate before the facilities are finished will be able to use the facilities for every semester they paid in, but Beynon, 20, said she didn't think she'd be staying in Las Vegas.

Beynon did, however, say that UNLV needed to upgrade the current Moyer Student Union.