In this 2006 file photo, a student lifts weights in the Mark Twain Athletic & Fitness Center at UMSL. Future students and members of the UMSL community will have more fitness options on campus after the UM System curators gave final approval this year to a new recreation facility. (Photo by August Jennewein)

The Curators of the University of Missouri System in September approved Cannon Design as the project architect for a new recreation and wellness center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Construction is expected to start in the summer, and the university plans to open the building in fall 2015.

In March, UMSL students voted on and approved a fee of $19.25 a credit hour to fund the $36 million center.

“I’m just really proud,” says Jericah Selby, past president of the Student Government Association at UMSL. “It was really encouraging to know that students got out, heard about this issue and participated in the initiative.”

The building will be constructed south of the Millennium Student Center on space currently occupied by parking lots C and D.

The new center will have 94,000 square feet of floor space. Amenities will include a three-court gymnasium, six-lane pool, whirlpool, strength- and cardio-training rooms, an elevated jogging track and locker rooms.

The UMSL Tritons will continue to use the Mark Twain Athletic & Fitness Center for athletic training and events.

Cannon was founded in 1945 in Buffalo, N.Y., and operates a regional office in St. Louis. The architecture, engineering and interior design firm specializes in health care, education and corporate commercial facilities.

This story was originally published in the fall 2012 issue of UMSL Magazine.