Facilities
| Gerald Ratner Athletics Center | ||||
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Location 5530 S Ellis Ave Chicago, IL 60637 Map It! |
Description
An active membership or valid guest pass with a current adult member is required for access to the Ratner Athletic Center. Activity spaces within the Ratner Athletic Center are available for recreational use during regular operating hours unless being used by scheduled departmental programs. For up-to-date schedules and closures please visit our online open recreation schedules.
Policies | Operating Hours
Designed by famed architect Cesar Pelli, the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center opened to the University of Chicago community in the fall of 2003. The building is named in honor of Gerald Ratner (A.B.'35, J.D.'37), who was an outfielder for Chicago during its days as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Located at the southwest corner of Ellis Avenue and 55th Street, the air-conditioned, 150,000 square-foot facility features the 50-meter x 25-yard Myers-McLoraine Swimming Pool; the Bernard DelGiorno Fitness Center with cardiovascular exercise equipment, selectorized weightlifting machines, and free weights; a multipurpose dance studio; competition and auxiliary gymnasia; classroom and meeting room space; permanent and day lockers and locker rooms; the University of Chicago Athletics Hall of Fame; and the athletic department offices.
The Ratner Athletics Center also serves as the home of the University of Chicago basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and swimming & diving teams. The facility includes a 1,658-seat competition gymnasium and the Myers-McLoraine Swimming Pool.
In its first year of operation, the $51 million facility received awards from the American Council of Engineering Company, the American Institute of Steel Construction, and the Consulting Engineers Council of Illinois for its excellence in engineering and design.
Among the notable features of the two-story facility is a roof that is suspended by cables attached to five masts that peak 100 feet from the ground.