Texas A&M Rec Sports celebrates the opening of the Southside Rec Center

Texas A&M University Rec Sports opened its Southside Recreation Center today with a grand opening celebration. The event featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours and awards, and featured speakers including student body president Case Harris ’23, vice president of student affairs Brig. General Joe E. Ramirez Jr. ’79 and Director of Recreational Sports Rick Hall greet the campus community with the latest in a growing family of campus recreation facilities.

The Southside facility is near the intersection of Bizzell Street and Mosher Lane, across from the Common Residences and close to the Cadet Corps Residences and the A&M Golf Course. It includes 63,500 square feet of indoor recreational space and an additional 15,000 square feet outdoors.

“Texas A&M Rec Sports is excited to provide students, faculty and staff with more options for recreating through our many facilities, programs and services,” Hall said. “With the Southside Rec Center, Student Rec Center, and Polo Road Rec Center located throughout campus, Rec Sports members and guests now have access to a facility within a 5-10 minute walk.”

The new facility offers a variety of custom equipment in the strength and conditioning space, two multi-sport courts and a fitness studio/purpose room. In addition, there is a bouldering wall with a new line of climbing holds and bouldering routes of varying difficulty. The outdoor area has two sand volleyball courts, a grass area with training equipment and lawn space for recreation and activities.

University officials announced the project in fall 2020, citing the need for additional recreation facilities to accommodate A&M’s growing enrollment, as well as having facilities located on the main campus.

The original Recreation Center opened in 1995 on West Campus and is the largest at over 400,000 square feet; it averages 8,000 visits per day. The Polo Road Leisure Center opened in January 2021 near the Emerging Technologies Building. It is connected to a parking lot and a food court and receives an average of 3,750 visits per day. Other recreational sports facilities include the Penberthy Complex, which averages about 5,000 visits per week, and the Physical Education Activity Program Building (PEAP), which averages 2,100 visits per week.

Hall said Rec Sports takes pride not only in its facilities, but also in the development opportunities available to students in the form of employment and leadership.

“Each year, Rec Sports employs more than 1,000 Aggies, putting more than $3.7 million back into the pockets of students who need to fund their educational experience,” he said. “Student employees have the opportunity to serve on the Student Employee Advisory Council for Student Leaders and apply for professional development grants and scholarships. »

Officials estimate that attendance at the Southside Rec Center will average 5,000 to 6,000 visits per day.