A multi-million dollar Dedman Recreation Center facelift will soon send the Cinco Center, SMU’s temporary gym, to trailer park heaven. SMU plans to start renovations as early as December.
With the Dedman renovation imminent, the student body has a very unique opportunity to get involved with the renovation process. The Student Senate will hand out flyers in coming weeks concerning possible changes to the new Dedman center. According to student body president Dustin Odham, Senate will meet with President Turner on Oct. 9 to discuss what student ideas are feasible for the renovated Dedman center. SMU is going out of its way to make sure the students are 100 percent satisfied.
“It sounds like a big improvement from what students are used to right now,” sophomore journalism major Ericka Johannesson said. “Hopefully, there will be more space and more equipment, so people can work out without feeling rushed because other people are waiting on you to finish.”
Within the next few years, bulldozers will demolish Cinco to make room for a new workout facility. The building just south of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports is but a temporary dwelling for the student and faculty gym while Dedman undergoes a face lift. Cinco (Spanish for five) was originally intended to be the gym for no more than five years.
Architects will present possible designs for the renovation in October. The project is expected to cost upwards of $25 million.
Currently the SMU Board of Trustees is unsure where it will get the money to fund the project. The board hopes to find a generous donor willing to give a significant amount of money for the improvement of the Dedman Center. If a patron is not found, tuition could increase by as much as 3 percent.
With renovations slated to start as early as December, many students are eager to have a new workout facility.
“It is about time we did something about this,” sophomore history major Matt Bragman said. “Every single time I go to the Cinco Center, I leave frustrated.”
The current, cramped facilities at the Cinco Center are enough to discourage students from working out at all.
“I could get so much more done if there was more equipment and more space,” Bragman said. “If it comes down to working out at Cinco versus not working out at all, throw me a bag of Dorito’s and let’s play some Playstation 2.”
According to Odham, some members of senate traveled with Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports director Judith Baines to TCU, Baylor and Southwest Medical School last weekend to tour the new athletic facilities on those campuses. Baines has been advocating Dedman’s renovation for 10 years.
