Kiernan Recreation Center's $11.5M renovation shown off
Jan. 19—Niagara University is finally showing off its newly renovated recreation facility that has a campus reach beyond school athletics.
The Kiernan Recreation Center has been given an $11.5 million facelift, with work taking place since June of 2021 and completed before the 2022-23 school year began.
"Every area of the building was touched in some way," said Derek Puff, the director of Recreation, Intramurals and Club Sports for the university. "100% of it got something, whether it was paint, flooring, but major renovations make up over 50%."
Of the $11.5 million cost, $1.5 million came from a Higher Education Capital grant from New York state with the rest coming from both university funding and private sources. The school worked with LeChase Construction Services on the renovations.
The biggest change to the center is the addition of 18,000 square feet that houses a new weight room, sports medicine suite, advanced dance studio, a spin class studio, athletic locker rooms, field and classroom storage, a meeting space for Niagara's athletic teams, coaches offices, and recreation offices.
Additional improvements include upgrading the Scaffidi gym, replacing the front gym's floor, and a new filtration system for the indoor pool. Where the front entrance used to be is now a student lounge area with the new entrance located next to it.
The center had been on campus since 1988, located off of University Drive near the athletic facilities and fields. The newly renovated areas were officially open for Niagara's full-time students in September, averaging between 2,000 and 3,000 students using it per week, using it for club, intramural and varsity sports to using the weight rooms, according to school officials.
Outside of athletics, the theater department runs its classes out of the dance studios, the Army ROTC Battalion use the facilities for their physical training, and it hosts the basketball event for the Western New York Special Olympics.
"Like our dining commons, this project is an investment in our students," said college president, the Rev. James Maher, C.M. "And what I think is most interesting is it touches every aspect of student life at Niagara University."
The center is also open for use to those who are not current full-time students, with different rates for a yearly member available for community members, alumni, employees and their spouses and children, and part-time and graduate students.
