Bowers Center for Sports Fitness and Well-Being

A united hub for campus recreation and athletics

Client: Elizabethtown College
Location: Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, United States
Size: 82,000 square feet
Status: Completed; LEED Silver Certified

A game-changing project for Elizabethtown College and its students and employees, the Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-Being is an incredible beacon for student health and wellness on campus. Prior to its opening, most students had to travel off campus to find recreation and wellness opportunities. The Bowers Center fills this critical need and has become one of the most sought-after destinations on campus.

The multidimensional building is the largest on campus and expands upon Etown’s proud history and commitment to student wellness. The center equips the college to ensure students flourish during their studies and then graduate ready to live healthy, meaningful lives long into the future.

A second-floor student lounge boasts a fireplace and offers dramatic views of the surrounding sports fields and campus buidings.

005082 01 N25 Cdwebsite — A second-floor student lounge boasts a fireplace and offers dramatic views of the surrounding sports fields and campus buidings.

The cardio and weights space is multi-dimensional and dynamic, empowering students to shape the best possible experience for them every time they visit.

005082 01 N54 Cdwebsite — The cardio and weights space is multi-dimensional and dynamic, empowering students to shape the best possible experience for them every time they visit.

005082 01 N35 Cdwebsite — The cardio and weights space is multi-dimensional and dynamic, empowering students to shape the best possible experience for them every time they visit.

Incredibly, the Bowers Center is able to all at once bolster campus recreation, athletics, student wellness, health education and academics for students. Building off an already strong health education program, it creates exciting new programming opportunities around nutrition, mental health, exercise science and more.

Read the Campus Rec profile

A cafe and demonstration kitchen provide healthy food for students day-to-day and also helps them learn about nutrition.

005082 01 N40 Cdwebsite — A cafe and demonstration kitchen provide healthy food for students day-to-day and also helps them learn about nutrition.

005082 01 N42 Cdwebsite — A cafe and demonstration kitchen provide healthy food for students day-to-day and also helps them learn about nutrition.

The building is truly more than just a recreation center. It’s all-encompassing of health and wellness for the entire Elizabethtown community.

005082 01 N16 Cdwebsite — The building is truly more than just a recreation center. It’s all-encompassing of health and wellness for the entire Elizabethtown community.

Since opening, we’ve had nutrition and biology classes use the demonstration kitchen. We’ve had biomechanics hold events in the fitness areas. Our diversity and inclusion team has had cultural nights via food, fitness and fun. People want to come to the Bowers Center, and its surfacing new possibilities on numerous fronts — it has transformed our campus and student experience.

Whitney Crull Director, Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-Being

Enhancing student experiences

25%

A quarter of the total Etown students visit the Bowers Center each day on average.

45,000

That's how many students, staff, alumni and visitors visited the Bowers Center its first semester of operation, an incredible feat for a small, rural university with enrollment under two thousand.

See what students have to say about the new recreation center