The university will unveil  the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation & Wellness Center Friday, with doors opening after Chapel and a campus-wide celebration, RecFest, beginning at 11 p.m. and lasting until 6 a.m. Saturday.

The dedication will come after a year and a half of construction involving about 200 workers to transform the existing fitness facility into a state-of-the-art recreation center.

Jonathan Martin, sophomore biology major from San Antonio and one of the rec center’s pool lifeguards, said he believes the center is one of the nicest facilities around. He said he is looking forward to enjoying the new building during the weekend festivities.

“It’s going to be an all-night party,” Martin said. “Everyone should take advantage of it.”

Brian Devost, executive director of the rec center, said the overnight celebration will include several attractions. Organizers will show a dive-in movie, Jaws, in the leisure pool at 1 a.m. followed by a pizza party at 2:30 a.m. Students also will have access to a group excercise class and the bouldering wall, Devost said.

“Of course, there’ll be open recreation time throughout the entire night, including basketball, walleyball, ping-pong and a lot more,” Devost said.

Additionally, co-ed team tournaments will take place throughout the celebration in volleyball, basketball, indoor soccer, inner tube water polo and the wacky water relay.

“The water polo and relay race are exciting because they’re not the everyday, usual activities we see in most rec centers,” Devost said. “Also, it’s all co-ed, which will be fun to mix everyone up.”

Students will also pair up in doubles to compete in foul shooting, racquetball, shuffleboard and badminton.

Most of these spots are full, but some positions might still be available, he said. To register for doubles competitions, students must go to the rec center’s front desk and sign a waiver.

Devost said the rec center staff expects many students to head home before the end of the seven-hour party, but they will have to close the doors for clean-up at 6 a.m. to be ready to open again two hours later.

The new facility, a 16-month project, features 113,000 square-feet of space and is full of workout rooms, gyms floors and offices. For many students, the joy surrounding the completeion of the rec center is two-fold.

“I can’t wait to work out in the new fitness rooms,” said Laura Edwards, sophomore nursing major from Houston. “But I’ll also be glad to not have to avoid the construction zones.”

For more information on the rec center and RecFest, go to acu.edu/srwc or blogs.acu.edu/srwc.