WAVERLY - From the rubble of the former Knights' Gymnasium, the $30 million Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center is rising swiftly over the Wartburg College campus.

Seven months since construction began, the center is on track to open in August and is within its budget.

"It has been a great project so far with no glitches," said Wartburg vice president for administration Gary Grace. "With the weather we've had, the contractors (Cardinal Construction is the major contractor) have been able to keep on track and got ahead in some areas so when we had this bout of bad weather the last two weeks it didn't hold them back."

Grace said everything is on course for Wartburg's intercollegiate athletic programs to use the facility when their fall seasons begin in August. He said four to six weeks later, the entire facility should be up and running for the public.

Between 70 and 85 construction workers are on-site everyday for the 200,000 square-foot center.

"It's been exciting to see the progress," said Grace. "It's almost hard to believe we started only seven months ago."

When completed, the Sports and Wellness Center will be one of the largest NCAA Division III facilities of its kind.

"We've been getting calls from a few alums who are watching the progress from a camera we've got attached to the library, and they are saying, 'It just doesn't look big enough,'" said Wartburg's director of athletic development Steve Walker. "And, through the camera, it probably doesn't look big enough. But the size is impressive. I bet an aerial shot comparing the size of the Wellness Center to the football complex would make it a little more realistic.

"It was hard to envision it, but now to see where the arena is going to be, where the coaches' suites will be located, the pool, the 200-meter track, it really has started to show the scope of the project."

By comparison, Northern Iowa's Wellness/Recreation Center, finished in 1997, covers 240,000 square feet. An average of 5,000 people use that building, which is not open to the public, each day. The University of Iowa is completing plans for a 180,000 square-foot complex that is expected to cost $55 million.

At Wartburg, more than 100,000 square feet will be available to the public, including the natatorium with a zero-depth entry pool, water slide and six-lane competition pool. The center will also include a state-of-the art fitness center with climbing wall, a fieldhouse featuring a 200-meter competitive indoor track, space for four basketball or tennis courts, an auxiliary gym with jogging track, a golf simulator and two racquetball courts.

Wartburg's intercollegiate athletic programs will occupy the remaining 100,000 square feet with a sports arena, a wrestling room that will fit three full-sized mats plus cardiovascular equipment, a large training room, locker rooms and a separate weight-lifting facility.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com