College Opens New Wellness Center for Students

Bluefield College took a big step in addressing the recreational and fitness needs of students when it acquired the Herb Sims Wellness Center earlier this semester.

For years, Bluefield College students were provided with memberships to the Community Center located on College Drive in Bluefield, West Virginia, which seemed to meet all the fitness needs for students. Rising costs for use of those services forced the college to move its exercise equipment on campus, but in the limited space available inside the Student Activities Center Annex, which administrators knew was only a short-term fix until the school could find a better option.

“The move will bring together the equipment that was previously available in the Annex (for all students) and the Douglas building (where BC athletic teams worked out) to a single space conveniently located near campus,” said Josh Arnold, associate vice president for student development.

Located on Stadium Drive less than a mile from campus and near Mitchell Stadium where the college plays its football games, the Sims Wellness Center features a variety of exercise equipment, including stationary bikes and treadmills, as well as weightlifting equipment, including squat and bench racks and dumbbells.

“The facility is closer to campus so it is easier to get to,” said senior football player Logan Hinnant, “and players don’t have an excuse anymore for missing lifts.”

Also available at the Sims Center will be a basketball court for sports teams to use for practice and other needs, as well as space once used for snack bars that are now empty spaces the school can use for anything.

“The facility is bigger and has more equipment,” said BC junior football player Demarcus Wimbush. “I like that we can use the basketball court in there for stretching; it gives us more space.”

According to Arnold, the college did not purchase the Sims Center, but instead is leasing the facility and plans to do so for the foreseeable future. Available to athletic teams since the acquisition, the center will be open to all BC students, faculty and staff on Monday, September 30.