Community Participates in Groundbreaking
The University of West Georgia celebrated a Health and Wellness Center Groundbreaking Ceremony with golden shovels and a marching band Aug. 16. The ceremony took place on West Georgia Drive across from Cole Field where the new building will be built. The HW Center is expected to open in January 2009.
UWG President Beheruz N. Sethna presided over the ceremony and told the crowd of more than 100 that the project is piece of a great campaign for the university.
“This building is part of a magnificent plan for West Georgia,” said Sethna. “It is changing the very trajectory of the University of West Georgia.”
Board of Regents member Willis Potts, state legislators and community leaders, students, staff and faculty celebrated the event together while “The Sound that Lights the South,” the UWG Marching Band, entertained the audience.
The Health and Wellness Center will be a 122,500 sq. ft. instruction, convocation and sports facility built in two sections connected by a two-story glass atrium. The largest section will have five basketball courts that can be used for any kind of instruction and be converted to a 7,000 seating capacity arena for commencement ceremonies and sports events. The facility will also serve as home of the UWG Wolves Basketball and Volleyball teams.
The second section will house academic offices and primary classes for the Department of Physical Education and Recreation. A state-of-the art human performance lab, weight training, aerobics and a 75-person stadium seating classroom will serve UWG students in this part of the building. Outside the building there will be large green spaces that can be used for outdoor classes, events and staging areas for large events inside the facility.
