Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek welcomed the campus community to the new RecSports Complex on Friday to celebrate the opening of the thirty-eight-acre recreational complex for students on Sutherland Avenue. A short ceremony and ribbon cutting were held, followed by dinner and then games and other field activities.
The complex is a result of efforts by students, campus, and community leaders who spent more than a decade working to establish additional outdoor recreation space for UT students. The event culminated the two-year construction project and kicks off the fall semester’s intramural and sport club season.
The RecSports Complex includes two softball fields, four turf fields, four natural grass fields, and three sand volleyball courts. The space will be available for a number of UT activities throughout the semester, including intramurals, sports clubs, and informal recreation.
Funded solely through student activity fees, the new complex significantly improves intramural programming and provides more flexibility and convenience in scheduling of sport club games and practices.
The new complex more than doubles the recreational space for UT students. More than 10,000 students participate in UT’s sport clubs and intramural programs each year, and UT expects that number to grow with the opening of the new complex.
The $14.6 million complex is designed with conservation and sustainability in mind and has Light Structure Green™ efficient field lighting, LED parking lot lighting, and a self-sustaining irrigation pond for field watering.
The complex connects to the city’s Third Creek Greenway and is just three miles from campus by car or by way of the greenway. UT expects the complex to boost the area economy through the daily hosting of UT students and by hosting other college and university teams for tournaments and championship games.
For more information, visit the RecSports website.