For incoming freshmen, the timing could not have been better. They will get almost four full years to enjoy the crown jewel of Boston University’s athletics program, which opens this spring and will offer students 18,000 square feet of workout equipment and facilities.
Freshmen should be excited about Harry Agganis Arena and Fitness and Recreation Center, said Warin Dexter, director of the Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Department.
“This is big news because the freshmen will get three and a half years of the new Fitness and Recreation Center,” he said. “It’s going to be fantastic. The Rec. Center is a dream come true.”
Dexter said that with 18,000 square feet of space there should barely be a wait for any fitness machine. The new center opens in the spring with racquetball and squash courts, two swimming pools and a climbing wall.
Agganis Arena rests in front of the Student Residences at 10 Buick St. and will open this spring.
While Agganis Arena will rewrite BU’s athletic history, a multitude of facilities for students are available across campus.
West Campus is the current center of athletic facilities at BU. The largest and most popular location is Case Physical Education Center. This includes Nickerson Field, Walter Brown Arena, Faneuil Pool, tennis courts, weight training, fitness rooms and locker rooms. The 285 Babcock St. complex is adjacent to the West Campus dormitories.
The fitness rooms include eight treadmills, 10 stationary bicycles, four stair climbers, four cross trainers, four rowers, two Nordic tracks and dumbbells ranging from five to 115 pounds. The gym is free for BU students and is under the jurisdiction of PERD.
BU students have been very involved in past PERD programs and Dexter said he expects higher numbers next spring.
“We have 3,000 to 3,500 students enrolled in PERD for this semester,” he said. “There are quite a few freshmen, and with the students going to the TTC for matriculation and from that building down to Splash on the field, we generally get 500 or so more students by the second semester.”
Behind Case, at 100 Ashford St., is the Track and Tennis Center. Opened in 2002, the center has a banked six-lane, 200-meter indoor track as well as an exterior flat jogging lane. The TTC also has four tennis or basketball courts and a golf range for classes. An aerobics space is available and the recreation hotline gives weekly updates of the hours of operation as PERD classes, clubs and varsity athletics tend to use the Center frequently.
Also located in West Campus is the first of many residence hall computer labs. The RESNET computer lab is located in Rich Hall at 277 Babcock St. All labs are open Sunday through Thursday 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday through Saturday from 12 to 8 p.m.
The only other computer lab on West Campus is located in the East Tower of 10 Buick Street.
Two smaller athletic facilities on campus offer students a quieter place to work out. On the second floor of 808 Commonwealth Ave. a new dance and aerobics studio is available.
Just down the road and across the street from George Sherman Union is Sargent Gym.
Sargent Gym is smaller than Case, offering a variety of exercise machines and strength training machines as well as a dance studio and locker rooms. PERD classes also utilize Sargent Gym.
On the other side of the GSU is the largest library on campus, Mugar Memorial Library. Mugar not only contains both a circulating and reference library, but is also home to the African Studies Library and Music Library.
Director Robert Hudson said the library website was crucial in navigating the complicated network at BU.
“It’s important to know the system is tied together through the website and online catalog,” he said. “Getting students to the website is the important thing.”
The library has more than two million books with 17,000 to 18,000 e-journals and 26,000 paper subscriptions. The library also has 11 branches located throughout the campus.
The other location is at 111 Cummington St., which is home to the largest computer lab on campus. The PC lab is open open 24 hours a day, seven days a week with 125 computers. There are also experts available to help with computer problems at certain hours. For the perpetually lazy, students can stick to the resident computer labs located in Warren Towers, The Towers, Myles Standish Hall and 504 Park Dr. in South Campus.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
