Membership fees set for Sanderson

With construction more than 90 percent complete, the Joe Frank Sanderson Center is tentatively scheduled to open March 16.

Laura Walling, director of recreational sports, said center membership will be restricted to faculty, staff, students, and retirees, along with their spouses and adult children. Membership fees and policies include:

• Faculty/Staff/Retirees: $75 per semester (one semester equals four months). A retiree is anyone so designated by the Department of Human Resources Management.

• Family Membership: $75 per semester for the first member; $50 per semester for each additional member. Family members must be sponsored by a faculty or staff member, a student, or a retiree, and must be at least 18 years old.

• Guests: $5 per day. Each faculty or staff member, student, or retiree may sponsor up to three guests daily. These individuals may be a spouse, children or friend of the member and the sponsor must accompany the guest throughout the visit. Guests have full access to all facilities, but may have limited access to programs and services.

• Full-time Students: $50 per semester.

• Part-time Students: $50 per semester.

Hours of operation are expected to be 6 a.m.-11 p.m., Monday-Friday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturdays; and noon-11 p.m. on Sundays.

Walling said the center's swimming pool is expected to be filled and operational when the 146,000-square-foot center opens its doors.

"The pool features a unique form designed to meet the various needs of a college recreation program," Walling explained. "It includes a 25-yard-by-25-meter area with a seven-to-nine-foot depth which will accommodate up to 11 lanes for lap swimming."

Membership fees will be collected by the Department of Recreational Sports, except for full-time students who pay when registering for classes. Members will have full access to all center facilities, programs and services.

"There will be no additional fee to use the Sanderson Center pool," Walling said. "However, those who wish to use a locker may purchase that service at a rate of 50 cents a day or $5 a semester."

In addition to locker rooms for men and women, the sprawling brick and glass structure also has a family locker room designed so parents may dress their gender-opposite children in privacy.

Other amenities include a sun deck and a wet classroom for swimming instruction or swim-meet staging. Starkville's City Bagel Cafe will operate a food service outlet at the facility.

Walling said Sanderson's lap pool meets the standards for competition of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Amateur Athletic Union and the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Extending from the lap pool will be a smaller pool with only a three-to-four-foot depth. Connected by a channel, the smaller pool will be used for swimming lessons, water aerobics, water volleyball, and related sports. It also has a ramp and lift available for those needing assistance, as well as a curved seating area in the water designed for socializing.

Recreational Sports plans to provide swimming lessons during the summer. Fees for each two-week session are $40 per person. The lessons will be offered for all who register-Sanderson Center membership is not required.