Fronteras

Arizona State University has drastically changed downtown Phoenix since it opened there in 2006. The school’s growth downtown has also led to a lot of new private development.

The Sun Devil Fitness Complex has a rooftop pool. You can see the YMCA, Walter Cronkite journalism school and other ASU buildings in the background. (Photo by Anthony Cave-KJZZ)

A new $25 million Sun Devil Fitness Complex opened recently for more than 10,000 students at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix Campus. It connects to the Lincoln Family YMCA, so students and members can use both gyms. The new building has multiple classrooms and an indoor jogging track.

ASU assistant to the dean of students Tania Mendes said students will use gym equipment in their studies.  

"It's a hands on experience, you know. A lot of the health and nutrition majors will be able to come over and facilitate that, we have a lot of students that are in the nursing major that are personal trainers and you know, getting that hands-on experience, so, the students are really engaged," Mendes said. 

The gym also has a rooftop pool. The view from above shows a downtown skyline that has changed a lot over the last several years.

Jeremy Legg is the economic development program manager for the city of Phoenix. He said ASU has contributed to the city’s increased tax revenues since opening.

City properties like Civic Space Park and the A.E. England Building host multiple campus events, and Legg said private projects, like new apartment complex Roosevelt Point, have also done well because of more students.

"Private investment in and around the campus has been in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The revenues that the city recieves since the campus has opened in this area have just grown tremendously, for outpacing what anybody could have even hoped for," Legg said. 

Legg said the relationship between the city and the school will lead to even more growth like ASU’s law school, which plans to relocate from Tempe to downtown by 2016.