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Storyline · 1989–1993

Building the Student Recreation Center, 1989–1993

In February 1989 UNC students voted a $13-a-semester fee to build a Student Recreation Center by Fetzer Gym. The trustees approved the Fetzer courtyard site that October over a faculty petition and turned down Norma Burns as architect, then appointed her in December. Construction began in August 1991 on a two-story building, with completion set for February 1993. The center opened on September 20, 1993.

1989–1993 Filed under UNC & Campus Life 5 dated events

On February 21, 1989 UNC students voted, 56 percent in favor, to raise student fees $13 a semester to build a $4.5 million Student Recreation Center beside Fetzer Gym, with a weight room, an aerobics room and a wellness center; it was the closest of six referendums, all of which passed. On October 27 the Board of Trustees approved the Fetzer Gymnasium courtyard as the site of the 27,000-square-foot center, then put at roughly $5 million, over objections led by physical education faculty, whose petition for a look at other sites and designs drew more than 1,200 signatures. In executive session the trustees also rejected the building committee's choice of the Norma Burns Studio of Raleigh as architect. On December 5, in closed session, they appointed Norma Burns of Burnstudio in Raleigh to design the building. The Student Congress speaker credited student pressure for the reversal and had suggested that the October refusal reflected her feminist views and her seat on the Raleigh City Council.

On August 21, 1991 workers fenced off the wooded site by Fetzer Gymnasium and moved equipment onto it. The plans called for a two-story, 30,000-square-foot building with a wellness center, weights, and aerobics and dance space, projected to cost $2,952,841 paid from the $13 fee, with completion set for February 1993. Critics had argued the site would consume green space. The center opened on September 20, 1993 and drew more than 1,250 students on its first day to a weight room of more than 150 machines and two aerobics studios, open on a walk-in basis 107 hours a week.

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Chapel Hill

The events, date by date

Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.

  1. UNC students vote a fee to build a Student Recreation Center In the campus election, 56 percent of voters approved raising student fees $13 a semester to build a $4.5 million Student Recreation Center beside Fetzer Gym, with a weight room, an aerobics room and a wellness center, the closest of six referendums, all of which passed. Place: Fetzer Gym, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 22, 1989, p. 1
  2. UNC trustees approve the Fetzer Gymnasium courtyard as the site of the Student Recreation Center The Board of Trustees approved the Fetzer Gymnasium courtyard as the site of the 27,000-square-foot, roughly $5 million Student Recreation Center that students had voted to fund in February, over objections led by physical education faculty, whose petition for a look at other sites and designs drew more than 1,200 signatures. In executive session the trustees also rejected the building committee's choice of the Norma Burns Studio of Raleigh as architect and asked it to recommend another firm. Place: Fetzer Gymnasium courtyard, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Norma Burns · Also mentions: Fetzer GymnasiumSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 30, 1989, p. 1
  3. UNC trustees appoint Norma Burns architect of the Student Recreation Center In closed session the Board of Trustees appointed Norma Burns of Burnstudio in Raleigh to design the proposed Student Recreation Center, two months after it had declined to approve her as the architect committee's first choice. The Student Congress speaker credited student pressure for the reversal and had suggested that the October refusal reflected her feminist views and her seat on the Raleigh City Council. Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Norma BurnsSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 7, 1989, p. 1
  4. Construction begins on UNC's Student Recreation Center by Fetzer Gymnasium Workers fenced off the wooded site by Fetzer Gymnasium and moved equipment onto it to begin the Student Recreation Center, a two-story, 30,000-square-foot building with a wellness center, weights, and aerobics and dance space, projected to cost $2,952,841 paid from a $13 student fee approved by referendum, with completion set for February 1993. Critics had argued the site would consume green space. Place: Fetzer Gymnasium site, University, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Fetzer GymnasiumSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, August 23, 1991, p. 3
  5. UNC's Student Recreation Center opens beside Fetzer Gymnasium The $4.5 million Student Recreation Center, built with student fees and first proposed by students in 1987, opened on September 20 and drew more than 1,250 students on its first day to a weight room of more than 150 machines and two aerobics studios, open on a walk-in basis 107 hours a week. A dedication and ribbon cutting were set for September 23. Place: Student Recreation Center, beside Fetzer Gymnasium, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 21, 1993, p. 3

Further reading

No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are the most widely held histories of the theme it is filed under, so they may not discuss it. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Background on UNC & Campus Life · the most widely held histories of the theme this storyline is filed under; they may not discuss it

Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence

Lucas, Adam · 2010 · University of North Carolina Press

Adam Lucas marks one hundred years of basketball at the University of North Carolina in this illustrated history, published by UNC Press in 2010 in association with the athletics department. Chapters follow the program from the game's arrival on campus and the 'White Phantoms' of the Southern Conference through the founding of the ACC, the 1957 season, Dean Smith's changes to the game and the title seasons of 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009, closing with a century of statistics. 289 pages.

The Blue Divide: Duke, North Carolina, and the Battle on Tobacco Road

Moore, Johnny; Chansky, Art · 2014 · Triumph Books

The Duke and North Carolina basketball rivalry written together by Johnny Moore and Art Chansky, the latter a sports reporter who has followed it since his student days at UNC. The book opens with the 2014 season and moves through recruiting battles old and new, 'Black and Blue Sunday', 'Blood and Roses', and chapters on the rivalry's heroes, leaders and teachers, with a foreword by Jay Bilas and a photo gallery. Published by Triumph Books in 2014, 289 pages.

Miss Mary's Money

Jones, H. G. · 2014 · McFarland & Co.

H. G. Jones follows the fortune of Mary Ruffin Smith (1814-1885), the unmarried heiress whose Orange and Chatham County lands passed at her death to the University of North Carolina and the Episcopal Church. Chapters profile her grandfather Francis Jones, then trace the bequest through a quarrel among Episcopalians over Price Creek, the Chapel of the Cross and the university's buildings. A December 1885 New York Times report called the gift money; Jones shows it was land. Published by McFarland in 2014, 231 pages.

The Chronicles of the Bicentennial Observance of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tepper, Steven J. · 1998

Steven J. Tepper's chronicle of how the University of North Carolina marked its bicentennial in 1993 and 1994. An appendix reprints the University Day speeches of October 12, 1993, given by Paul Hardin, James B. Hunt Jr., C.D. Spangler, William C. Friday, Charles Kuralt and President Bill Clinton, plus bicentennial addresses by Li Lu, Francis S. Collins and Richard J. Richardson. Published by the university in Chapel Hill, 1998; 284 pages.

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William Friday

Link, William A. · 1995

Biography of William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system, by historian William A. Link, published by UNC Press in 1995 with the subtitle power, purpose, and American higher education. It covers Friday's career and the history of the university at Chapel Hill and statewide. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

Chapel Hill in Plain Sight

Athas, Daphne · 2010 · Eno Publishers

Twelve essays by novelist Daphne Athas (1923-2020) on the Chapel Hill she knew across the twentieth century. Subjects include Carrboro as 'the Paris of the Piedmont', philosopher Horace Williams, Betty Smith writing in Chapel Hill, Junius Scales, Ab Abernethy and the Intimate Bookshop, Richard Wright's visit, and a set of Chapel Hill murders. Published 2010, 243 pages with illustrations.

What it means to be a Tar Heel: Roy Williams and North Carolina's greatest players

Fowler, Scott · 2010 · Triumph Books

Scott Fowler gathers recollections from Carolina basketball players, decade by decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, organized around Roy Williams and the question in the title. Contributors include Lennie Rosenbluth, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Eric Montross, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton and Sean May, each entry giving position and playing years. Published 2010 by Triumph Books of Chicago, 270 pages, here as an e-book.

The Campus of the First State University

Henderson, Archibald · 1949

Archibald Henderson's history of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its buildings and grounds from the founding in the 1790s onward. Henderson, a professor of mathematics and a prolific historian of the university, wrote it in the years around the university's sesquicentennial. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 412 pages with illustrations and bibliographical footnotes.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1949), South Atlantic Quarterly (1950).

The Woman Who Rang the Bell: The Story of Cornelia Spencer Phillips

Russell, Charles Phillips · 1949

Charles Phillips Russell's biography of Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), the Chapel Hill writer remembered for ringing the bell of South Building when the university reopened in 1875 after its closure during Reconstruction. It doubles as a history of Chapel Hill and the university. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 293 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Journal of American History (1949).

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Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “Building the Student Recreation Center, 1989–1993.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/storylines/student-recreation-center-storyline-1989/. Accessed October 22, 2026.

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