Currie Center spectacular addition to campus

$62 Million facility | State-of-the-art building on UNB campus to open

"From the equipment, to the rec gym we're standing in, to the high-performance gym upstairs, it's unbelievable. It's way better than I ever thought it could be."

The cost for the impressive multi-purpose, five-storey facility is $62 million, with UNB chancellor Dick Currie personally donating more than $20 million towards construction of the 8,000 square-foot, air-conditioned building.

"I'm not quite sure of the exact price tag," Richard said, "but I'm sure it wasn't cheap because nothing in here is cheap."

The Currie Center, which replaces the Lady Beaverbrook Gym for court sports, features state-of-the-art gymnasiums, a high-performance lab and other research facilities, an elevated 191-metre running track - five laps equals about one kilometre - fitness and conference centres.

The 1,500-seat, high-performance gymnasium will also be the venue for convocations, beginning with the May 18 and 19 ceremonies.

The main boardroom provides a picturesque view of the Fredericton skyline and the St. John River.

Two full-size recreation gymnasiums are on the ground floor.

David Saad worked at the Fredericton YMCA for almost 25 years before taking over as facility operations manager for the Currie Center on Dec. 1.

"I had heard a lot about the Currie Center," Saad said, "but it's 110 per cent better than what I thought it would be. I've probably taken 500 people through the facility and there hasn't been one negative comment.

"It's always been 'Wow.'

UNB women's basketball player Laura Fowler will be entering her third season with the V-Reds in the fall.

"Obviously it's really nice," Fowler said. "The biggest thing for the athletes, for us, is going to be the floor. The floor at the LB gym was so slippery. Here, you're not sliding all over the place, so you have to adjust to it."

She doesn't mind having to adjust, of course.

"The locker room is great, there's lots of space in the team room and obviously the performance gym is beautiful," Fowler said. "It's hard to find fault with anything."

Fowler sees the Currie Center as a valuable recruiting tool.

"I think they've been kind of using that (selling point) for the last, like, five years knowing that it was going to be built," she said with a chuckle. "I still have two or three years left here, so I'm certainly going to enjoy it.

"For someone new coming in, well, nobody in Atlantic Canada has a facility like this," Fowler said. "Memorial University has a field house somewhat like this, but it's brand new, it's state of the art. It will help recruiting immensely."

Richard, who moved into his new office the first week of April, says the facility was long overdue.

"I walked on campus as a varsity athlete 20 years ago and there was rumblings of a new building coming," he said. "To finally get here and move in is just surreal.

"We waited a long time," Richard said, "but they definitely did it right in every aspect."