Rec-ing Ball

Some of Illinois' largest quality of life buildings (rec centers or student housing facilities) for higher education have been planned and implemented by Brailsford & Dunlavey, and the firm has beefed up its staff to start several new projects. Brailsford & Dunlavey's Ryan Jensen, Tim Presecky, Daniel Durack, Ann Volz, and Greg Wachalski showed us around their Michigan Avenue offices last week. The team made its debut in Chicago by planning  DePaul University' s rec center (below) and has worked on more than 300 campuses nationwide, including Urbana-Champaign's two athletic and recreation center and Roosevelt University's new vertical campus.
The firm has done about $18M  in business this year of program management and planning for higher ed, K12, and sports. On rec centers, they consult on center size, equipment and spaces each center should have, and how to fund the building. Greg says rec centers are often a key recruiting tool for universities, and keeping them up-to-date can be key to getting new freshmen in the door. Today's students are focused on self-driven recreation more than the team sports or partner sports many old rec centers have. Could this be the end of racquetball-themed fraternities?

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