Construction workers scattered throughout the future UI Campus Recreation & Wellness Center on a Thursday morning, swinging their hammers to the sounds of drills and bulldozers.

Since 2007, the construction project at the southwest corner of Burlington and Madison Streets has expanded from an empty lot to a massive building that promises state-of-the-art exercise features.

The foundation for a channel current, popularly known as a lazy river, a rock-climbing wall, and spaces for cardiovasulcar equipment overlooking Burlington Street are already in place. But the building needs another year’s worth of construction before students will be able to check out its features.

Officials project the $69.2 million building will see 5,000 to 7,000 people daily after its opening in August 2010.

Director of Recreational Services Harry Ostrander said he is excited about the wellness center accommodating all students for their day-to-day fitness.

“I’m most excited about students finally having a facility that they can call their own,” Ostrander said. “It will be the very first time on this campus that a facility has been designed with student recreation being the primary purpose of the facility.”

Students will pay an annual fee of $219 next fall to help fund the project. The public and university employees can also join, for annual fees of $360 and $300, respectively.

UI students said they are looking forward to the location of the center.

“I’m excited because there will finally be a centrally located fitness center for all students on campus to go to, and I think this will bring the community together,” said UI junior Corey Katz.

Planning the building’s design started years ago, with Ostrander arranging tours of 11 different universities’ recreational facilities and three water parks in the Wisconsin Dells.

After much thought, he is confident with the final layout of the 211,000 square foot building’s three floors.

One of the center’s unique features allows students to drop in for a nutritional smoothie at a full-service cafeteria providing healthy food and drink without swiping their university IDs.

Students will, however, need to use their IDs to enter the workout complex — a new requirement to access any recreational building across campus.

Dozens of cardio machines, each featuring personal TV monitors, will be dispersed across the three levels. Large flat-screen TVs will also hang throughout rooms.

Members can towel off in four different locker rooms, two of which will be monitored by a palm-print system and suited with carpet, wood lockers, and a TV lounge available for a higher price. Two public locker rooms, each with 600 lockers, will also accommodate students.

“The facility lounges, meeting and activity rooms, café, and aquatic centers will be a natural draw,” Ostrander said.

The aquatic center dominates the first floor and includes free lap lanes in the leisure pool, along with a 10-foot rock-climbing wall, a 30-person hot tub, and a circulating channel current, also known as a lazy river.

The Hawkeye swimming team will practice in the new 50-meter competitive pool, complete with two bulkheads that can be reconfigured to allow numerous races. Across the way, the Hawk diving team will practice on the diving towers standing 5, 7.5, and 10 meters tall.

The first floor will also host a free weight area, fitness machines, and a much-anticipated 54.5-foot rock-climbing wall, Ostrander said. Three basketball courts, one of which can be used to play indoor soccer, will sit on the second level.

Members can attend spinning and mind-body classes in the third floor’s group exercise rooms.

Ostrander said one of the center’s biggest benefits will be to bring the UI community together.

“It will be a location where students, faculty, and staff … can all come together in an informal setting,” he said.