BCC breaks ground on Wellness Center

9/2/2011 — An earlier edition of this story gave the completion date as late December 2013. The correct date is December 2012.

BARSTOW • Barstow Community College broke ground Thursday afternoon on a new Wellness Center that will offer students 24,000 square feet of space for exercising, playing sports, and learning about physical education.

The two-story Wellness Center will be located behind the gym and is scheduled for completion in late December 2012, said BCC spokeswoman Maureen Stokes.

The first story of the center will have exercise equipment, an “endless pool” that provides a current for people to swim against, and an indoor court that can be used for tennis, volleyball, basketball, and badminton, said Stokes. The second story will have an indoor, rubberized running track and three physical education labs.

BCC already offers an associates of science and physical education major, and the classrooms will be used to teach first aid, personal training, sports psychology, and other classes, said Stokes.

The Wellness Center is going to cost an estimated $12.4 million, with 90 percent of the building being paid for by the California Community College’s Chancellor’s office, said Stokes. The other 10 percent is being paid for by BCC.

“We’ve been saving for the past five years for this project,” said Stokes.

The Wellness Center has been in the planning stages since 2003, said Stokes. Because BCC never had the full gym and field facilities of other community colleges, it was able to get the project approved more easily.

When asked if students would have to pay a fee for access to the center or if the public would have access to the center, Stokes said plans are still being discussed about accessing the center.

BCC Trustee Ted Baca said at the ceremony that he remembers the first wellness center — which was only about 450 square feet and was located on the side of the gym — and said the new wellness center showed the progress of the college.

“Today we see it has come home where it belongs,” said Baca.


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