Aquatic center unveiled

A lavish pool, complete with a zip line, a 12-person hot tub and a boulder wall adorned with fake palm trees and waterfalls, was unveiled for Southeast Missouri State University students Friday.

The $8.5 million project was financed by students at a cost of an additional $2 per credit hour from 2005 to 2010. The general fee increase also funded student programming and intramural sports.

All the other universities Southeast competes with have a pool, said Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins.

Budget cuts led to the closing of Parker Pool in 2002, which Dobbins said was underused due to its location.

The new aquatic center, nearly 32,000 square feet, features a six-lane, 25-yard lap pool and a 2,900-square-foot leisure pool. It is inside the Student Recreation Center-North.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, a crowded filtered into the new Student Aquatic Center for a tour. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

A rock wall -- actually concrete-fabricated panels -- stands 14 feet high. Swimmers try to scale the wall and then move across it, ducking under waterfalls. The maneuvering across 40 feet of slippery rock is made more difficult by the fact there are no foot hooks or handholds, like a traditional rock wall. Students who fail fall into the 7-foot-deep pool.

Opposite the rock wall, water rises to the edge of the pool and cascades over, creating a waterfall.

The zip line requires no equipment. Swimmers stand on a platform, hold on to a handle bar and travel along a 25-yard steel cable across the pool, dropping into the water at the end.

"It's not necessary, but why not have it if it's in the budget? It makes the facility that much better," said George Gasser, president of Student Government, adding that the extra amenities are "necessary in the fact that students want something like that."

Gasser said the project was student-initiated, starting in Student Government. The university's marketing department held student forums to determine interest and set up an online survey. In 2005, the board of regents approved the plan. Construction began in the fall of 2006. Students made design suggestions during workshops run by the architects.

Regents expressed hope the aquatic center would boost enrollment.

Albert Spradling, vice president of the board, said an attractive campus lures students and that today's students expect amenities.

"College life is more than pure academics, although that is the most important aspect. The college experience for a noncommuter school -- and we're not a commuter school -- involves athletics and social interaction," he said.

Stephanie Winschel, a sophomore, said when deciding on a college she looked to see if "they had fun stuff to do besides going to class."

But several students expressed reservations about the project.

"I feel I might use it, but even though I might use it I don't want my tuition to go up," Amanda Truetken said.

Andrea Kellerman said that when considering universities she "didn't care about sports and anything" and was looking strictly at academic programs.

Price and location were the main factors when Amber Rose chose a school, she said.

Use of the pool will be free for Southeast students; community members will pay a per-day fee. Although the ribbon-cutting ceremony was Friday, the pool will not open for use until Thursday.

Southeast does not have a swim team and does not intend to create one in the near future, university spokeswoman Ann Hayes said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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