![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ZoneExpansion.jpg\")
<\/a>Brock University Students\u2019 Union President Faisal Hejazi.<\/p><\/div>\n
For Faisal Hejazi, the Zone decision made the past 11 months of hard work worth it.<\/p>\n
As President of the Brock University Students\u2019 Union (BUSU), Hejazi made the Zone expansion one of his main election platforms last year, and he has led the charge to see it through.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a huge sense of relief. I was more anxious about this referendum than I was about my own election for president,\u201d said Hejazi, who is planning to head to law school in the fall. \u201cThis is about providing future generations with something that will positively affect their mental health and overall Brock experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hejazi and others from both BUSU and Brock researched and toured fitness centres across Ontario and determined that the current Zone, opened in 2001 when students had to purchase memberships, is the smallest in Ontario. All Brock students now have access to the fitness centre through the Student Life Fee, resulting in a space that frequently hits maximum capacity.<\/p>\n
Hejazi\u2019s term as BUSU President wraps up this month, but he\u2019ll no doubt be invited back when a grand opening is held for the new space in the fall of 2020.<\/p>\n
Until then, he\u2019s happy to pass the torch on the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s up to the next two executive teams to work on it. There\u2019s still so much to be done,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a relay race. I did my part and now I\u2019m handing off the baton.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Smeltzer, Director, Capital Planning and Project Management, said the next step toward construction is the formation of a working group that will develop a project charter setting the scope, schedule and costs that everyone will agree to.<\/p>\n
From there, Request for Proposals will be developed for architectural and engineering services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to go to the marketplace by the middle of May and then have them secured by mid-July,\u201d Smeltzer said.<\/p>\n
From there, the design process will only take about six months because of the pre-work that has been done over the past 11 months.<\/p>\n
Construction will likely get started by early to mid 2019 and will take about a year to complete \u2014 if all goes according to plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an extremely complicated project because we\u2019re tying into existing buildings and services,\u201d Smeltzer said. \u201cWe have a really good idea of how we need to go forward, but there\u2019s a lot of design work that has to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said a major part of that work will be designing something that can realistically be constructed inside the confines of a courtyard surrounded by existing buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cConstructability will be a significant undertaking and we\u2019ll be looking at how to get equipment and material in there and how things like the courtyard and adjacent hallways will be operated during construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that have to be considered, but in the long run, putting the Zone where it\u2019s proposed is likely the best solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Brock Sports Director Neil Lumsden, all that work will be worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at what all Brock students will now access, it will be some of the best around,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at just our intramural athletes, we have more than 3,300 individuals, many playing multiple sports, who will benefit by being able to train with great instructors in a fabulous facility.\u201d<\/p>\n