The three-level facility offers triple the workout space compared to IM West, a 50-meter pool and an elevated track within eyeshot of the Breslin Center and Munn Ice Arena. It includes two sports arenas for basketball, volleyball and badminton, along with six multipurpose fitness spaces, including an indoor-outdoor yoga studio and a combat sports room. 

Additional amenities include a cycling studio, personal and athletic training suites, a rock-climbing gym and a bouldering wall across from “Hammock Grove,” a lounge space for students to set up their own hammocks. The center also features a virtual sports simulator next to a turf arena, a ping-pong alley featuring the world’s largest table-tennis paddle on an adjacent wall, an outdoor workout area with “shred sheds,” plus an outdoor lounge and two classrooms.

The facility features an open floor plan, allowing students on the third level to overlook the entire building. Rick McNeil, the building’s project manager, said the space is designed to “bring the outdoors in,” with its spanning sunroof and frequent use of windows.

“From everywhere in this building, you’re looking outdoors—there are intentionally as few walls as possible,” McNeil said. “All of the graphics were meant to bring the Michigan outdoors and the rest of campus into the building.”

Large photos of Michigan State’s campus and landmarks like Pictured Rocks and the Mackinac Bridge will line some of the first-floor walls. Blue flooring set against sediment tones is designed to represent the Red Cedar River flowing through the building.

McNeil said that in total, the university invested roughly $2 million in workout equipment, though a variety of machines are expected to need replacement within 10 to 15 years. The priority is to utilize easily adaptable equipment and multipurpose spaces, according to Ean Montague, communications director for the project. 

“The way people work out now might not be the way they work out 20 years from now,” Montague said. “We have so much multi-purpose space to account for change.”

The facility’s opening comes months after the Board of Trustees approved the demolition of IM West. The 68-year-old building had become functional obsolete and would be expensive to refurbish, according to the university.

The new facility is likely to see a high amount of foot traffic, testing its ability to accommodate a large population both inside and outside. The official parking for the building is Lot 126, next to the Breslin Center. McNeil did express some concern about the limited parking, especially on home game days. 

The building will initially operate on limited hours from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. IM West will officially close on April 25, though its pool will remain open until spring 2027, as the new building's pool is still under construction.