Northwestern State University of Louisiana expects to wrap up construction of the multi-million dollar David and Sherry Morgan Health Performance Center next year.
NSU announced plans in April 2022 to build a new workout facility for athletes, with the Morgans $1.5 million contribution. On Aug. 26, 2022, the university received the green light to build the performance center to replace the Fieldhouse, which has been the facility for athletes at NSU since 1977. The annex will be located in the Donald G. Kelly Athletic Complex.
On Dec. 13, 2023, NSU hosted a celebration to honor the new facility and construction was set to begin in March 2024 for the 11,600 square foot weight room. However, the project was pushed back due to sewage pipes found in the ground and heavy rain, with athletes and staff anticipating move-in to finally occur in the first week of February 2026.
“As of right now, we’ll be able to move into the main new building, which will have a weight room and nutrition center, in the first week of February. My hope is we can get moved in even closer to now. My goal is to try and get it by mid-January,” Kevin Bostian, NSU athletic director, said. “When the kids move back in for the spring semester, we want to have it open for them.”
Bostian and his staff have been working with President James Genovese; Jennifer Kelly, who oversees the project from within the university; the state of Louisiana; general contractors and faculty on campus to ensure the project gets done by his February goal.
Bostian has been head of athletics at NSU since February 2022, and he’s finally seeing the project take its first steps towards completion.
“It’s taken a little time—a lot longer than I thought it would be. But they are finally making a lot of progress to get [the performance center] done as soon as possible,” he said.
The center will benefit spring sports, giving athletes access to brand new equipment and facilities as soon as they move back in for the spring semester. In addition, the Fieldhouse won’t be completely out of use, instead providing new offerings for NSU’s athletes.
“The old equipment room and old weight room in the Fieldhouse will become a new athletic training room and rehab center, and then the current training room will become an equipment room,” Bostian explained.
Jason Smelser, NSU’s director of strength and conditioning, is looking forward to the brand-new sound system and weight racks that the performance center has promised student-athletes.
Smelser explained that the racks are designed with the Williams Strength company, which designs one-of-a-kind racks that best fit all the student-athletes at NSU.
“One of the coolest new features is they have power outlets throughout the racks that plug into the floor, that you can actually plug into the racks,” Smelser said.
Smelser is looking to add purple light-emitting diode lights to the racks, as well as equipment for velocity-based training. “You’ll need cameras at every rack to track velocity to the bar, you’ll also need iPads at every rack as well. We’re looking at a couple companies to price those out,” Smelser said.
The spring semester promises lots of athletic activity, with men and women’s basketball, track and field, tennis, baseball and softball preparing for their seasons while football, volleyball and soccer continue into their offseason competitions. Bostian and his staff are looking forward to finishing the facility’s construction, so student-athletes can make the most of the state-of-the-art facilities this spring.
