By Cindy Cuellar
Staff writer
The new Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center (SRAC) project across from the Event Center at San Jose State is set to be built by this April, according to recreation center employee Leland Manaois.
The SRAC has been under construction since November 2016 and was expected to be completed by December 2018, making it a semester behind.
Students are anticipating several new amenities such as a rock wall and bouldering area, an indoor track, more equipment, three full-court basketball gyms, a lap pool and a recreational pool.
The new facility is being built on top of the old aquatic center, which displaced student athletes who used the pool for practice.
Since construction for the SRAC began, SJSU water sports teams, like swimming and diving and water polo, have not been able to host a home game or practice on campus.
In an email from SJSU’s athletics media relations director Lawrence Fan, he stated, “When the new facility opens, the men’s water polo, women’s swimming and diving team and women’s water polo teams will have an on-campus home facility again.”
Not having an on-campus location for these water sport teams creates more cost in both time and money.
The water polo team has to drive 13 miles away to West Valley College for all practices and home matches.
Having the new SRAC will allow better accessibility for students who live on campus to support the teams when they have home games as well.
Not only are the students and athletes benefiting from the new location, but the new facility will create a large benefit for coaches as well.
“The new SRAC will allow these teams to have one of the best and newest facilities in their respective conferences,” Fan said in an email. “This creates a recruiting advantage for the San Jose State coaching staff to use when meeting with prospective student-athletes considering San Jose State.”
The current employees at the REC center are training to transition into the new SRAC. Not only will they deal with more equipment and space, but the larger staff will also be trained for more specific jobs.
“We are preparing as of right now actually. We just hired 100 new hires and they are shadowing us,” Manaois added.
Garrison Wong, Current recreation center employee and computer engineer senior said he is excited for the new athletic classes for students.
“There’s going to be a lot of different classes,” Wong said. “They’re going to offer rock climbing classes.”
Many students, such as aviation freshman Julia McHugh, believe a new center is needed.
“I’m looking forward to the pool,” McHugh said, “I’ve been swimming for 10 years, so I applied to be a lifeguard since they are certifying people for free.”
The Spartan Recreation website also has a live webcam on its website showing the progress of the SRAC construction.
