New Health And Kinesiology Facilities Approved For Texas A&M

Construction of a new facility for Texas A&M University’s Health & Kinesiology Department — which will include a multi-use gymnasium that can be converted into indoor tennis courts — was approved Thursday (Nov. 3) by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

The 111,000-square-foot building will be constructed at a site near the George P. Mitchell ’40 Outdoor Tennis Center on Texas A&M’s West Campus, notes Vice President for Administration Dr. Rodney McClendon. In addition to the multi-purpose gym and departmental offices and classrooms, the facility will include activity rooms for dance, fencing, gymnastics, yoga, Pilates and self-defense programs. Additionally, it will provide weight rooms and badminton courts that can be converted to basketball courts.

The multi-use gym can be reconfigured to accommodate three indoor tennis courts for the Texas A&M men’s and women’s tennis teams through use of a portable lay-down flooring system, McClendon adds.

“This will be an extremely flexible facility that will allow us to host everything from physical education classes to indoor tennis matches,” McClendon said. “Such a facility, particularly for Health & Kinesiology, has been needed on our campus for many years.”

The new $21 million building will support what is formally called the Physical Education Activity Program (PEAP) Facility Project. Officials from the Department of Health & Kinesiology say approximately 25,000 students currently receive instruction each semester through PEAP, and thousands of additional students utilize the current facilities for recreational activities before and after scheduled classes. An even greater student use is expected with the new facility.

The Health & Kinesiology Department is currently housed in the Read Building, which is beneath the east stands of Kyle Field, and in G. Rollie White Coliseum. The department shares some facilities with Recreational Sports and the Athletic Department, and that partnership will continue when the new facility opens in the summer of 2013, McClendon says.

Most of the activities for which G. Rollie White was built — varsity basketball games, commencement exercises and other specials events — were moved several years ago to 12,500-seat Reed Arena on the West Campus. Likewise, many of the activities formerly conducted at the Read Building are offered — and with more and better accommodations — at the Student Recreation Center, which is also on the West Campus. Given its heavy use, maintenance concerns and impact on the egress of fans from Kyle Field, university officials have determined that it would be more cost-effective to replace the Read Building with the new facility.

Aside from office space, the main current use of G. Rollie White has been to provide temporary space for the MSC Bookstore, which was moved to the coliseum while the Memorial Student Center is being expanded and renovated. That work is scheduled to be completed in time for formal reopening on the day of Muster, April 21, 2012. The bookstore will then move back to expanded facilities in the Memorial Student Center.

University officials are evaluating the longevity and use of both the Read Building and the 57-year-old G. Rollie White Coliseum as part of ongoing discussions regarding the future renovation and expansion of Kyle Field.

Funding for the PEAP Facility Project will be through Permanent University Fund debt proceeds and investment earnings.