Pitt's new $240M rec center is a game-changer for students — and it's free to use

Carla Panzella says she has a different answer each time she’s asked about her favorite part of the University of Pittsburgh’s new 270,000-square-foot recreation and wellness center.

There’s much to pick from at the new space, which opened to Pitt students Sunday at 3921 O’Hara St.

It boasts nine stories, with an aquatics center, indoor jogging track, courts, weight and cardio zones, a climbing wall, esports lounge and wellness and counseling suites.

On a tour with local media Thursday, Panzella, Pitt’s vice provost for student affairs, decided to highlight the esports lounge.

“I like having an activity that is often isolated, where (now) they can be in a space and be in a community,” Panzella said.

Touring Pitt’s new recreation and wellness center today for @TribLIVE. It is a 9-story, 270,000 square foot space that includes an aquatics center, indoor jogging track, courts, weight and cardio zones, climbing wall, esports lounge and wellness suites pic.twitter.com/LnzVfqx63X

— Kellen Stepler (@KellenStepler) September 18, 2025

Recreation staff and Pitt leaders say goals for the recreation and wellness center are to provide a sense of community and improve students’ physical and mental well-being holistically.

“We really do see this facility as a connector, a campus connector, one place where people can gather and meet and connect with one another and spend some time,” Panzella said.

Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer estimated costs for the facility at around $240 million. The architect was Moody Nolan and the builder was Mascaro Construction.

The recreation and wellness center is free for students to use. Pitt is working with its Human Resources office to determine staff and faculty access, he said.

The facility will be student-run. Just fewer than 400 students will work in various roles, in positions like attendants, lifeguards or instructors.

Design plans for the facility stemmed from feedback from students, staff and faculty, and consultations with industry leaders, said Janine Fisher, Pitt’s executive director of marketing and communications.

“This was a couple years of really strategic planning, before we got into the design of the space,” Fisher said.

Pitt officials emphasized students’ holistic well-being in creating the facility.

“Students in this generation are very focused on their wellness, so they show up prepared to engage in their wellness and interested in different ways. And they have a diversity of thought around well-being,” Panzella said. “We’re keeping up with the times and trying to meet those needs from that perspective.”

Feedback from students about the facility is overwhelming, Panzella said.

“They’re finding the space to be really comfortable and really a place that they find themselves,” she said. “I think we’re one of the more modern, holistic approaches to wellness that other campuses are using as a model, and I’m pretty excited that we were ahead of the game in that space.

“I think it’s a facility that we can grow into for decades, quite frankly.”