Student Recreation and Wellness Center tops the charts

August 23, 2010 by Kenneth Minster 

Vegas Seven magazine gives UNLV fitness club a shout-out

Forget pricey fitness clubs or your mom’s back porch for getting pumped up. UNLV enrollment comes with a full gym membership, and word has it that it’s the best in town.

UNLV’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center (SRWC) recently won the title of “Best Fitness Center” in the city, awarded by local, independent magazine Vegas Seven.

Pitted against the power players of the personal fitness industry, the SRWC was built with the knowledge that Las Vegas is flooded with hip, accessible gyms thirsty for college students as customers.

To compete, staff say, the SRWC had to be the best. And it is.

No less than 185,000 square feet, on four floors, entice all from the exercise addicted to the curious, infrequent jogger. Everything from a café to a spa to counseling and psychological services populates this health center.

The center’s services reach people at all levels of interest.

Thousands of square feet of the basic treadmills and weights “…on our second floor fitness mezzanine… cater to the Olympic lifter or the high-profile bodybuilder,” said Jeff Wells, director of the SRWC. “It also caters to a novice, so if you want to get in a workout on a fitness regimen with weights, all of that is available to you.”

The facilities are state of the art. The SRWC boasts an entire floor devoted to basketball, volleyball and racquetball courts.

An indoor track provides a view of the Strip and the six-lane lap pool bests most venues in town — at least according to the people at Vegas Seven.
Editorial Director Phil Hagen of Vegas Seven explained why the SRWC stood out.

“Picking UNLV’s fitness center had some appeal because not many people in town know how cool it is, or that they can actually use it,” he said.

The SRWC is open to the community for a charge of $25 – that’s less than a membership with towel service at the Las Vegas Athletic Club.

Wells said that he believes the facility won the magazine’s honor for two reasons.

“Every option in recreation and wellness are available to you as an individual [and] we have outstanding staff in all those areas,” he said.

“Really, it’s the people that work here and service the clients.”
But students and alumni whose money helped build the center don’t pay anything.

Opened in fall 2007, the $55 million dollar project was paid for by student fees.

Wells said the SRWC is worth the tuition increase.

“Every day another student walks in the door and just says, ‘Wow!’” he explained. “After they get the ‘wow’ factor out of their system, they feel that they get their return on investment if they know they’re going to get quality equipment, quality instruction, quality customer service and a very safe and clean environment.”

Hagen agreed. “I had a tour of the facility a year or two ago and was very impressed with its architecture, the interior spaces, the programs and how the whole thing was set up,” he said. “My tour guide mentioned that he thought it rivals the best private clubs in town. I couldn’t disagree.”

ON THE WEB:
Student Recreation and Wellness Cetner: srwc.unlv.edu