Now that NIU’s indoor sports teams will play in the Convocation Center, the Chick Evans Field House has plenty of extra space.

The new vacancy will ease overcrowding at the Student Recreation Center.

On average, the Rec Center draws more than 2,500 students daily, said secretary Ebony Winfield.

The problem of overcrowding has made the Rec feel like a nuisance to some students.

“I don’t like that the machines are always in use by someone else,” said sophomore English major Alicia Boughton, who teaches step aerobics classes at the facility. “There is never an open machine.”

To help alleviate some of the crowding, an addition to the Rec Center will be built in the Chick Evans Field House, said John Sweeney, director of Campus Recreation.

In the meantime, the field house is hosting physical education classes and also is being used as a practice sight by some athletic teams.

Discussions currently are underway to begin construction of the Rec’s future additions, Sweeney said.

Two major additions include two boarded systems that will accommodate indoor soccer and floor hockey.

Although Sweeney already has met with architects, he said it will be a few weeks until the project is trimmed down enough to fit the department’s budget.

Construction may start as early as the spring 2003 semester, he said.