The 110,000-square-foot facility includes cardio, aerobic and strength studios; two pools; a whirlpool; family locker rooms; a full gymnasium; racquetball courts; a child care center; and a full range of adult and youth programming.

The Prince William campus is part of a regional network of four Mason locations. The main campus is located in Fairfax, VA. The Prince William campus also is home to the recreation, health and tourism school, so student employees get hands-on education working with a wide age range of patrons.

Only 7 percent of the center's 6,000 members are students. Many of the remaining members are part of the local community.

“It's a great complementary use in our case,” Shinners says. “Students are primarily here during the day, so we're busy during the day, but not as busy as we are from 4 o'clock [p.m.] onward. Most students shuttle in from Fairfax, which is about 20 miles away.”

Many of the community members visit the center after work in the late afternoon and evening. And although the town now has several other commercial clubs, that wasn't always the case, she says.

“When we first opened, there was a dearth of health clubs in the area,” Shinners says. “In the past four to five years, as the population has grown in the area, they have opened up a few chains. There's enough potential business to sustain our center.”

The center maintains its market share by promoting its pools and its family atmosphere with its wide range of programming, she says.

URBAN AGREEMENT

Another school that forged a close partnership with the city government is Portland State University, which sits in downtown Portland, OR. In January, Portland State opened a $62 million, six-story rec center that also hosts Portland's city archives, classrooms for the school of social work, retail stores and restaurants. The partnership was a win-win for the school and city, says Scott Gallagher, director of communications at Portland State.

“The city heard we were building, and they were trying to put together money and heard we had some tenants planned,” he says. “They needed a new place to put city archives, so we combined efforts, and it made good sense to do it. The archives will be across the plaza from our school of urban design and public affairs. It was a perfect combination of need and opportunity. Having the city as a partner allowed us to do things we might not have been able to do without them.”

Investors have a condo-like agreement, in which each entity that paid to build space also owns that space. Shared costs include the building's foundation work, lobbies and HVAC system.

The new facility is the only dedicated student rec center on the campus of 29,000 students, says Alex Accetta, director of campus rec. Although the fitness facility won't be open to the entire community, university administrators are examining limited membership options.

“We're looking at different membership types for major tenants,” Accetta says. “Employees at the city archive and Oregon system chancellor's office will be able to get memberships. The rec center was built for students because they're footing the bill, so it's not open to the general community.”

The rec center features a large cardio and weight room; an aquatic complex that includes a lap pool, leisure pool and whirlpool spa; new locker rooms; a three-court gymnasium; a running track; a rock climbing and bouldering wall; and a two-court gymnasium.

The new facility is proving to be a social hub for the urban campus, Accetta says.

“As an urban school, the rec center is a place that students can come and meet people around shared interests,” he says. “It's a social place. Students can exercise and go downstairs and eat, and we can link being healthy and being active so students do better in school.”

BRIDGING THE GENERATION GAP

Offering community memberships in the rec center at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, allows students to interact with alumni and older members in a less intimidating environment, says Charles Allen, CSCS, fitness coordinator, department of campus recreation.

The school's Turner Center has 110 community memberships that are not affiliated with the university. The 150,000-square-foot facility includes classrooms and labs for the college's department of health, exercise science and recreation management. The school's parks and recreation management department offers aquatics classes for older adult community members at the Turner Center.

The center's amenities make it an attractive alternative to the commercial clubs in town, Allen says. “There are at least four other fitness facilities in town, but a lot of community members recognize they're gaining access to more than just a fitness facility,” he says. “We've got basketball courts and an indoor pool and locker rooms that other fitness facilities in town don't offer.”

Although the university has offered community memberships for many years, it does not advertise them because of overcrowding concerns, Allen says. The school had 8,000 students when the center opened, but it now has 16,000 students, and the rec center has not been expanded.

But welcoming community members could go a long way toward cementing future funding deals between universities and governmental entities. It's a new business model that administrators at many university rec centers find mutually beneficial.

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