By SHANNON O. WELLS
Given the vertical nature of Oakland topography, one could easily assume that only a select few of Pitt’s halest and hardiest students would clamor to climb a towering, obstacle-laden wall on the sixth floor of a glass-encased building straddling upper and lower campus.
Numbers from the past few days, however, render that assumption moot. The 49-feet-tall climbing wall in the newly opened Recreation and Wellness Center on O’Hara Street — along with most of the sparkling nine-story building surrounding it — is an instantly magnetic destination.
“Just in the past few days of being open, we’re seeing a steady, probably about 30 to 40 climbers every hour inside this space,” said Sarah Sleva, assistant director of outdoor and adventure pursuits in the Division of Student Affairs. “And they’re staying consistently for about an hour and a half to two hours at a time, if not more.
“It builds a community here,” she added. “We see students that have never met each other, interacting with one another, starting to learn to climb together and practice their skills.”
The climbing wall, which Sleva called the tallest of its kind in the Pittsburgh area, includes 13 rope-oriented sections as well as more then 30 bouldering routes. The rope-climbing routes will be rotated every 10 weeks, and bouldering routes updated every five weeks.
“So there’s new climbs almost every week,” said Sam, a student supervisor at the climbing wall.
Sleva and Sam were among the many knowledgeable and enthusiastic students and staff showing off the long-anticipated Rec and Wellness Center during a media tour on Sept. 18.
Although some interior construction remains underway, the University officially opened the facility to students on Sept. 14.
Pitt faculty and staff currently do not have access to the facility, as the University tries to develop a membership-fee structure and negotiates with the faculty and staff unions over access.
‘Game-changing facility’
As awe-inspiring as the wall and its popularity may be, that is but one of dozens of innovative features in the more than 270,000-square-feet facility. These include an aquatics center featuring a six-lane pool, adjacent water-game section and large spa; an elevated indoor jogging track; numerous multi-sport courts; weight and cardio zones on multiple floors catering to all fitness levels; a digital E-sports lounge; wellness and exercise suites; a reflective “stress-free zone” room and more.
The facility also will offer three new dining concepts, with the goal of providing fresh, convenient options to help visitors refuel before or after health and wellness activities. These are expected to open in October on the first floor, accessible off O’Hara Street, and will be open to everyone.
As early afternoon sun poured through its plentiful, towering windows, the facility — which first starting going up in 2022 — was fairly teeming with fitness and wellness-conscious students. Many appeared to have replaced the initial awe of their new surroundings with the drive to work out and engage in activities using state-of-the art, often high-technology-based equipment.
“We’re so excited to open the new Recreation and Wellness Center for students,” Carla Panzella, vice provost for student affairs, said earlier this month. “Building a new recreation center gave us the opportunity to reimagine recreation by integrating holistic wellness.
“This facility reflects our understanding that student success depends on comprehensive well-being.”
Shaped through student feedback as well as sustainability- and holistic well-being-based concepts, the facility’s design and features were conceived to create a “vibrant hub for recreation, health and community connection,” a University statement said.
Student Affairs staff have kept quite busy creating innovative programming that Panzella said “integrates physical and mental wellness in creative ways that will support students’ journey toward balanced, health and fulfilled lives, both here at Pitt and beyond.”
Marlin Nabors, new dean of students, said the Recreation and Wellness Center embodies a “commitment to the complete student experience at Pitt. This transformative space in the heart of campus unites lower and upper campus while serving as a total health and wellness destination.
“It’s not just a recreation center — it’s a hub where students can focus on their physical health, mental health and social connections in one integrated environment. I’m excited for students to experience this game-changing facility.”
Getting there
Led by student input going back to at least 2019, the project was designed to foster mental, physical and social well-being while also encompassing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification through sustainable design.
On a more practical level, the center also will serve to connect Oakland’s upper and lower campuses with outdoor walkways and gathering spaces, creating what’s being called a “new campus social core.” The outdoor spaces are still under construction and no timeline was given on completion.
Eventually, the Recreation and Wellness Center will provide a connection from O’Hara Street to the Petersen Events Center with an express elevator and Panther Run staircase leading to a fifth-floor entrance of the rec center and a walkway to Petersen.
During the media tour, Lorraine Craven, executive associate dean of student affairs, explained the building’s hill-hugging design and logistics.
“As we work our way down, you’ll see that it gets smaller as we go, and that’s intentional, because we are built into the hillside here,” she said of the intended “gateway” from upper to lower campus. “When we are fully operational, this (fifth-floor lobby section) will be open 24 hours, so students at the top part of campus can walk through those doors, come to this elevator and go down to (first floor), and vice versa.”
Currently open daily from noon to 8 p.m., the facility will begin its full hours of daily service, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., on Sept. 29, and continue throughout the fall semester. The dining facilities will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Noting that the LEED Gold certification is “very close” to the coveted Platinum status, Craven marveled at the building’s inviting natural brightness.
“It is very open — windows galore — and that’s intentional. That’s all part of our sustainability efforts here,” she said, also noting the facility’s active mobility features. “This building is accessible to all students.”
‘Super exciting’ operation
While ultimately overseen by Student Affairs, on a practical level, the facility is run by students.
“We take a lot of pride in having our students work and gain leadership skills that are valuable to them for their next steps,” Craven said. “Yes, we do have a professional staff, but to make this building operational — to make Campus Recreation, as well as our other aspects here work — we have to hire student employees, and you’re going to see them throughout the tour.”
Students also man the fifth-floor lobby, where one can register for programs, check out adventure equipment, and enter the facility’s vast inner domain through a bank of electronic turnstiles.
The eighth floor’s expansive Sky Gym, which accommodates basketball and volleyball, sits below an elevated indoor track. Eight times around equals 1 mile. At another gym on the sixth floor, students also can play Badminton, Pickleball, Futsal, and more.
The fifth-floor Aquatic Center is managed by around 100 students who will serve as lifeguards, activity coordinators and supervisors.
“Students will have just about 100 hours per week access to the water, whether they want to swim, lap, play games, or relax and use the spa,” noted Aquatics Director Shawn Haupt. “Lots of fun things there are fully accessible. We have a zero-entry ramp, chair lift as well as a water wheelchair, so all are welcome and able to use our waters here. It’s super exciting.”
The pool, which includes six lanes for lap swimming and an adjacent section for volleyball and other games, runs from 4- to 7-feet deep.
Chilling out
As part of the facility’s holistic wellness design, the eighth floor’s Wellness Suite accommodates counseling and health services, but other opportunities for peace and reflection abound in the Stress-Free Zone, which offers a commanding view of the Cathedral of Learning. Visitors can take part in yoga classes, meet with a counselor, participate in group therapy, meditate or pray.
Bernadette Smith, associate director of outreach programs and services in Student Affairs, called the Stress-Free zone a “signature space” where students can learn to practice “evidence-based mind-and-body stress-reduction skills” to build resiliency, including guided mindfulness meditation and yoga sessions. Biofeedback, daylight lamp therapy and other soothing resources are also available.
“We can also partner with campus groups to offer screenings or events in visible and accessible, student-friendly spaces,” she said. “These spaces really support students by empowering knowledge and skills to help them thrive.”
Perhaps the most cutting-edge-looking space in the Rec and Wellness Center is the vast seventh-floor gaming and computing center, which features Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox consoles along with 48 personal computers divided into four tables of 12. Two window-enclosed back rooms provide competitive spaces where registered student organizations can compete in E-sports championships.
“In between those two rooms is a broadcast room with state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment that’ll be tied into the two competitive rooms so they can broadcast out gameplay and competitions — wherever they may be — streaming their competition out online,” said AJ Franco, competitive & recreational program coordinator. “That provides a little bit of infrastructure for the new sports program to grow on campus and for competitive teams to come to life here, as well as the general community.”
Boldly looking forward
Winding down the media tour, Panzella acknowledged that, despite the protracted nature of the facility’s construction and questions about faculty and staff access still being discussed, the thrill is palpable and the feedback thus far highly encouraging.
“Although we were waiting for this facility to open throughout construction, we are very excited that we are pretty much open. You can see everybody’s starting to enjoy the facility. The feedback is overwhelming,” she said. “I hope you have your own personal experience about feeling positively overwhelmed by it, but our students are giving us feedback pretty regularly that (it’s been) worth the wait, or ‘Sorry they complained that it took so long.’
“Somebody even reposted, which is unheard of, that they were sorry they complained online, because ‘It’s quite incredible.’ So they’re finding this space to be really comfortable and really a place that they find themselves.
“I think we’re one of the more modern, holistic approaches to wellness that other campuses are using as a model,” Panzella added. “And I’m pretty excited that we were ahead of the game in that space. I think it’s a facility that we can grow into for decades.”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at [email protected].
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