On Thursday, May 14, Lawrence University announced a new construction project featuring two new facilities, The Hub and The Loop. This announcement, part of Lawrence’s new “Level Up” initiative, was accompanied by a kickoff event revealing a start date for The Hub’s construction at the end of May, with The Loop not having a specified timeline but receiving confirmation to begin the planning phase. The Hub is a major renovation project taking place in the newly acquired east half of City Center, transforming it into a state-of-the-art space for fitness and recreation, including both athletic facilities and practice spaces for Conservatory students.
“The Hub is not just a rec center. It is not just a Conservatory space,” explained Lawrence University President Laurie Carter. “It is, in many ways, the embodiment of Lawrence. The Hub reflects the adaptability, collaboration and innovation that our graduates — liberal arts graduates — will need to thrive and lead.”
The Hub will be a 56,000-square-foot community center serving the diverse interests and needs of the Lawrence community. Included in the space will be a new 9,000-square-foot strength training and cardio center with simulator bays giving students access to a wide variety of virtual experiences, as well as a 2,000-square-foot conservatory practice space equipped with a recording studio and Wenger practice modules capable of simulating various performance environments. In addition, there will be a dedicated fencing training area, batting cages with biometric tracking capabilities and a hockey practice space with synthetic ice.
The space for The Hub on the lower level of the City Center East building was entrusted to Lawrence by local businesspeople John Pfefferle, Thomas Jassen and Paul Hoffman with the hope that Lawrence would continue to expand its liberal arts mission and create an interdisciplinary space serving students with a wide variety of interests…