Image by Bowers, Ellis + Watson Architects, Pa. and HOK Southwest view of the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness. Pictured at the far left is a portion of the existing Justice Center.

UNC Asheville’s efforts to help Western North Carolinians lead healthier lives took another step forward this week with the completion of the preliminary design for the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness.

The center will be the hub for educating health and wellness professionals, conducting interdisciplinary research, building community and statewide partnerships, and incubating community programs around critical health and wellness issues, said UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder. The center’s initial focus will be on three of North Carolina’s most pressing wellness concerns: childhood obesity, workplace wellness and senior wellness.

“We believe the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness will be a leading catalyst for healthy living for North Carolinians of all ages,” Chancellor Ponder said. “The Center links our University’s interdisciplinary focus, our emphasis on undergraduate research and service learning, and our faculty and students to the health and wellness of our community, our region and our state.”

UNC Asheville is engaged in early collaborative planning with MAHEC, Mission Hospitals, Western Carolina University, A-B Tech and other local and regional health organizations.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the entire region and state to begin building programs and interventions for wellness and prevention strategies,” said Teck Penland, MAHEC president and CEO. “We, MAHEC, are extremely supportive of UNC Asheville and will support research and education in any way the center chooses.”

Joseph F. Damore, president and CEO of Mission Health and Hospitals, sees several possibilities for collaboration as well. “We are delighted with the potential opportunities the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness offers,” Damore said. “UNC Asheville’s work could support Mission's efforts to provide acute care and wellness services for our region, and it supports Mission's vision of Western North Carolina becoming the healthiest region in the state. We look forward to working with UNC Asheville as they develop their center.”

The health of the region is also on the mind of Buncombe County Commissioner David Young. “The North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness will help our citizens understand what wellness means for their lives and longevity. There is a significant economic benefit as well, since companies who are seeking to migrate look for areas that make health and healthy living a priority,” Young said.

The Center Takes Shape

Bower, Elllis + Watson Architects, Pa. and HOK Aerial perspective of the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness, looking southwest above the intersection of Campus Drive and University Heights. Pictured on the left are the existing Justice Center and Health and Fitness Center, which is connected to the Center by a covered pedestrian bridge.

The 122,000-square-foot North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness will house a dozen classrooms, research and teaching labs; strength training and aerobics rooms; offices, meeting rooms and seminar space; and a dance studio, wellness cafe, and a demonstration kitchen for healthy cooking and eating courses.

The facility also includes a multipurpose convocation center with seating for 3,200 to 3,600, offering for the first time a campus venue that could hold all of UNC Asheville’s students. Currently, the largest event space on campus is Lipinsky Auditorium, which seats 625. The convocation center will serve as a location for national speakers, health fairs, commencement and convocation, and related events. The convocation center, named the Kimmel Arena in honor of university benefactor Joe W. Kimmel, will also be used for intercollegiate basketball. The facility will be located near Justice Center and be connected to the campus Health and Fitness Center by an enclosed walkway. 

Construction of the center, which is estimated to cost between $40 and $42 million, is funded in large part by a $35-million appropriation from the N.C. General Assembly. UNC Asheville is raising $5-$7 million in private funds to upfit the Kimmel Arena as a venue for intercollegiate basketball and for student recreational programs. Some $2.1 million has been raised so far.  The university plans to break ground in spring 2008; the construction project is expected to take 24 months. The project architects are Bowers Ellis & Watson of Asheville, and HOK, an international firm that specializes in public assembly architecture.

Faculty and Student Research

Although the facility is not yet complete, UNC Asheville’s health and wellness research and outreach have already started.

The center’s research efforts began in January when four teams of UNC Asheville faculty members received Wellness Initiative Starter Grants to pursue interdisciplinary primary prevention research. Among them is physicist Chuck Bennett, who has embarked on his own successful weight loss program. Bennett has been joined by biologists Chris Nicolay and Herb Pomfrey to devise a method for people to test their breath while exercising to determine when they begin to metabolize body fat. Health and Wellness Assistant Professor Amy Lanou, sociologist Karin Peterson and Spanish lecturer Ellen Bailey are studying the ability of Latina women in Western North Carolina to effectively pursue healthy living behaviors.

UNC Asheville students are equally engaged. Undergraduate researcher Jonathan Felson, one of the university’s new Wellness Scholars, is conducting a needs assessment for the Asheville-Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement to better understand barriers to health and well-being among communities of color in Buncombe County. 

UNC Asheville’s Health and Wellness Promotion degree program, now in its second year, is the fastest growing major at the university. Students in Associate Professor Kathie Garbe’s health and wellness community outreach class are developing and implementing a personal health education program for 32 people who had been living on the streets and are now part of a year-long life change program at the Western Carolina Rescue Ministries in downtown Asheville. Another set of students is working with Garbe to develop a health and fitness program for older adults in partnership with the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement.

For more information, contact UNC Asheville’s Public Information Office at 828/251-6676 or e-mail pubinfo@unca.edu.

Sidebar: The GIFT Program

UNC Asheville’s second annual “Getting into Fitness Together” (GIFT) program kicks off Tuesday, March 13. This seven-week physical activity program is designed for children ages 7-12 and their families. Sessions will meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons on the UNC Asheville campus. A variety of activities designed to help encourage fitness and healthy weight loss will be featured, including scavenger hunts, hiking, tag and water games. Enrollment is $35, which is fully refundable upon completion of the program. For more information or to register, call Melissa Himelein, UNC Asheville professor of psychology, at 828/251-6834 or click on http://facstaff.unca.edu/himelein/gift.htm.