The project, which has been in the works for two-and-a-half years, will involve a substantial renovation and expansion of the 41-year-old Gibson Health and Physical Education Center, adjacent to Moody Coliseum. Named for Herbert R. and Belva Gibson, who donated more than $400,000 to the project, the Gibson Center was a state-of-the-art facility when it was completed in 1968. However, the university believes the time has come to expand its wellness offerings for students, and also to draw all its wellness facilities, including the Medical Clinic and the Counseling Center, under one roof. The building also will serve as home for offices and classrooms of the Department of Exercise Science and Health.
The new facility will house many venues for student learning, exercise and athletics competition. These include a sizable area for cardio fitness and weight training; several multi-purpose gyms; an eighth-mile indoor elevated recreational track; racquetball courts; and a new leisure pool with swim lanes and opportunities for water sports.
Construction on the new center will begin the first week of March, with an anticipated grand opening in Fall 2011. The new center will help ACU realize one of its 21st-Century Vision goals of educating students with a holistic wellness focus.
Information about the new center will be available here, where you can view architectural renderings, construction updates and other news on the Web site, and find out how to honor the Moneys with a donation toward the new center.
View other architectural renderings of the proposed facility here.
