Chlapaty Recreation and Wellness Center/Football Stadium Renovation University of Dubuque

Dubuque, Iowa
Construction Cost: $17 million
Area / Square Feet: 87,000
Occupancy Date: October 2008

The Chlapaty Recreation and Wellness Center sits adjacent to the University of Dubuque’s football field, adjoining a new stadium grandstand with 4,000 seats built on the site of the previous grandstand (now demolished).

The facility provides the university and city with a place for recreation and wellness, and it is the first space on the campus large enough to hold convocations, conferences and major entertainment — whether inside the field house or outside in the stadium.

Major components include a two-level fitness area; a 200-meter, six-lane indoor track surrounding four multiuse courts; a 16-foot-wide concourse that runs the length of the facility and overlooks the track and courts; home, visitor, officials and faculty/staff locker rooms; a training room with hydrotherapy and exam rooms; a fitness studio; and concessions, juice bar and lounge areas.

Meanwhile, the stadium’s renovation includes the reconfiguration and expansion of concessions stands, a press box, ticket booths and the presidential suite. The suite offers views of Dubuque’s rolling landscape in all directions and also serves as a meeting room. The two-story press box and suites rise above the bleachers, mimicking building forms seen throughout campus. The football field received new lighting, synthetic turf, an outdoor track and visitor seating.