JBU health complex opens after renovation

n The Walton Lifetime Health Complex reopened Wednesday after renovation.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Bailey Sager, a sophomore at John Brown University, gives the invocation Wednesday at the opening of the Walton Lifetime Health Complex on the campus in Siloam Springs. Renovation of the facility included a new entrance, weight room, air conditioning and renovation of the pool.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Bailey Sager, a sophomore at John Brown University, gives the invocation Wednesday at the opening of the Walton Lifetime Health Complex on the campus in Siloam Springs. Renovation of the facility included a new entrance, weight room, air conditioning and renovation of the pool.

The renovation of John Brown University's Walton Lifetime Health Complex gives its patrons needed equipment and space, a student athlete said Wednesday.

University officials, donors and community members celebrated the opening of the complex on Wednesday.

JBU Campaign

For more information about John Brown University’s Campaign for the Next Century, visit www.jbu.edu/giving/….

Source: Staff Report

The $5 million project is part of the university's $125 million Campaign for the Next Century. The university has raised more than $96.7 million and plans to reach its goal by its centennial in 2019, according to a news release.

The renovation included expanded cardio and weight areas, upgraded fitness equipment, updated and expanded HVAC system and locker room, refurbished pool mechanical system and new pool decking.

"It was something that was needed and something that we all looked forward to," said Bailey Sager, a sophomore studying business administration.

Sager is on the university's volleyball team and said working out was her biggest hobby. She said she uses the Health Complex daily.

Limited space and equipment meant gym users often had to wait to use a machine, Sager said.

"They would come in expecting to be able to do a certain workout then not be able to, and then have to adjust their entire workout," she said, then speaking about the expanded space, "I have not heard of anyone in here having to ask about using equipment after somebody."

The amount of cardio equipment tripled, and the weight area quadrupled, Robyn Daugherty, university athletic director, said.

The first phase was to add air conditioning throughout the building. The recreation gym, Murray Sells Gym and locker rooms were not air conditioned and would get so hot in the warm months that players would start sweating before practice began and pre-game talks couldn't happen in the locker rooms, Daugherty said of her days as the university's volleyball coach.

Now, Daughterty said she believes the Health Complex is the best health facility in the area.

"It's got something for everyone," she said. "Anyone 14 and over, they can find something to do here."

Chip Pollard, university president, commented on the "remarkable" public-private partnership between the city, businesses and nonprofit organizations that helped pay for the project.

He thanked specific partners including Simmons Foods, the Soderquist Family Foundation, the Chapman Trusts, the Mabee Foundation, the city of Siloam Springs, the La-Z-Boy Foundation, Nabholz Charitable Foundation, McKee Foods and Arvest Bank.

The Health Complex is used by students, faculty and staff as well as community members.

The complex had about 1,000 community patrons that visited about 1,200 times a month before the improvements. That number has jumped to about 1,225 community members visiting nearly 2,000 times a month, Pollard previously said. There were nearly 80 new members in the first couple of weeks in November.

The community -- including the Siloam Springs High School swim team -- is the primary user of the pool because the university doesn't have a swim team, he said.

"It was kind of an either do it or close it kind of thing," Pollard said, adding it's one of four competitive pools in Northwest Arkansas. The others are at the Bentonville Community Center, the Jones Center and the University of Arkansas. "It was a big deal to keep it open."

Of the $125 million in its Campaign for the Next Century, the university is seeking to raise $32 million for new facilities and renovations, $35 million for scholarships and $25 million in estate gifts for future endowment.

The university's Health Education Building and Nursing Endowment, a $12 million project that is part of the campaign, was dedicated in August.

The university announced in April a $3 million challenge grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation that will be used to renovate Mayfield Residence Hall, the 247-bed women's dormitory.

General News on 12/11/2016