Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Northern Arizona University Opens New Athletic Center

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/28/22

Officials from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., recently gathered to celebrate the grand opening of a new athletic facility. The Student-Athlete High Performance Center measures in at 72,000 square feet and cost about $46 million. A news release notes that it is the university’s first athletics facility to be partially funded via alumni and former student-athlete donations.

The center provides vastly expanded space for student-athletes’ academic, weight training, recovery and nutrition needs. The facility’s Grand Hall also features memorabilia from past athletic success. Visitors enter the Grand Hall across a 140-foot walking bridge that elevates them to canopy level of the surrounding forest.

Northern Arizona University Student-Athlete High Performance Center

“Our design embodies the NAU Lumberjack brand and reinforces NAU’s culture as an institution and a championship-caliber athletics program,” said Andrew Kelly, DLR Group Sports Design Leader. “The iconic Parsons Family Auditorium undeniably features one of the best views of any training facility in the country, sitting above the tree line with a 60’ x 40’ glass wall that frames unobstructed views of the 12,600 ft Humphreys Peak and the San Francisco Range.”

The center features amenities like the nation’s largest high-altitude training chamber on a university campus, which simulates a variety of atmospheric conditions. The Scott and Franci Free Academic Center provides about 7,000 square feet of individual study space, three classrooms, staff offices and a computer lab. The Jennifer Marie Wilson Strength and Conditioning Center gives student-athletes a total of 11,500 square feet of weight training space. The Michael E. Nesbitt Athletic Training Center, meanwhile, offers three hydrotherapy recovery pools.

The university partnered with DLR Group for the facility’s design and with CORE Construction for the construction phase.

“CORE truly enjoyed the opportunity to partner with DLR Group in constructing this state-of-the-art facility for NAU Athletics, which will draw and serve student athletes who are national leaders in collegiate competition,” said Emerson Ward, CORE’s Director of Higher Education. “In the execution of the High-Performance Center project, our team was inspired by the energy that NAU Athletics and the student athletes bring to the ‘field’ every day, and we are excited to see this new facility help the Lumberjacks excel to new heights.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Esports are Growing in Popularity

    Video games and esports are a popular social hobby, and it’s one that’s accessible to a wide variety of physical ability levels. Some esport student-athletes have started to earn scholarship opportunities, and high schools are beginning to form teams equipped with the same degree of resources as their physical sports teams. However, the two have very different needs.

  • Phoenix High School Completes First Phase of Campus Renovations

    Metro Tech High School, part of the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) in Phoenix, Ariz., recently announced the completion of the first stage of a campus renovation project, according to a news release. The school reopened a series of public-facing business operations spaces including credit union, daycare, floral, cosmetology, and culinary services. It also includes new CTE learning spaces for the school’s nursing assistant, pharmacy, and sports medicine programs.

  • University of Rochester to Break Ground on New Student Life Center

    The University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., recently began construction on a new Student Life building, according to a news release. The first floor will contain campus-wide gathering, program, and rehearsal space; the second floor will play home to the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.

  • DLR Group Announces New Mid-Atlantic Higher Education Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has promoted Principal Shawn Gaither, AIA, LEED AP, to the role of higher education leader in the Mid-Atlantic, according to a news release. Gaither has served with the firm for more than 20 years, most recently as the national higher education business development leader.