For immediate release
Five mark milestone at REK Center
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS – May 14, 2008 – Five people with close ties to the under-construction Recreation Education and Kinesiology (REK) Center were recently given the honor of writing their names in the wet cement of the facility on Friday, May 2. 
Romualdo Herrera, construction supervisor and his daughter Cynthia, a UTB/TSC student, left their mark on the second-floor cantilevered running track. They were joined by Dr. Zelma Mata, health and human performance department chairman; Laurie Braden, campus recreation director and Victor Rubalcaba, campus intramural coordinator.
Pouring the track marks a milestone in the construction of this long-anticipated facility that broke ground in August 2006.
Herrera, a 16-year veteran with Terry Ray Construction, the local contracting company on the project, said this effort is extra special because he had a hand in something his children will benefit from that will strengthen their education experience.
“I’m glad to see more and more kids going to college,” Herrera, whose son is also a student, said. “Education is their opportunity for a better life. My wife and I are focused on [our kids] getting an education, for good jobs and their futures; it’s our main goal.”
His daughter Cynthia is a pre-nursing student at UTB/TSC. She said she has always been interested in staying healthy and she works out regularly at the university’s current fitness center located in what was the restaurant of the former Fort Brown hotel, now student housing. 
“The new REK Center is going to be awesome and I know my dad’s been working hard on that building. It’s really great that a lot of people are going to be using it and benefitting from it,” she said.
The health and human performance wing will include six classrooms, a computer lab, motor development lab, an exercise and physiology lab and faculty and staff offices. The fitness and recreation wing will include the indoor jogging/walking track, three basketball courts, two racquetball courts, two multipurpose exercise rooms and areas with equipment for weight training and cardio workouts.
Mata, who was part of the 2004 “REK-ing Crew,” a team of students and faculty that visited campuses across Texas researching similar recreational and educational facilities, said she enjoys seeing the project unfold before her eyes.
“Every day I drive by and look to my left to admire the progress,” she said. “It’s a great start to my day.”
The $26 million REK Center will anchor the planned campus recreation zone. Financing for the facility is from student fees and a portion of the $68 million bond package approved by the voters in November 2004.
The REK Center is expected to be completed by winter 2008.
For more information on construction projects go to www.utb.edu and click on construction.