The Fall semester started with the reopening of Yoshihiro Uchida Hall after an in-depth renovation that started in Spring 2013 as part of a $54.7 million bond-financed project that also includes the renovation of Spartan Complex, which began over the summer. The space will be shared by San José State University Athletics and the College of Applied Sciences and Arts Kinesiology department.
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- Staff and faculty members from the College of Applied Sciences and Arts gather in the new amphitheater in Yoshihiro Uchida Hall on Aug. 21 for the college-wide Welcome Assembly, just before finishing touches were done on the room.
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- Faculty and staff members enjoyed refreshments in the hallway of the newly renovated Yoshihiro Uchida Hall before the College of Applied Sciences and Arts Fall Welcome Assembly.
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- Just weeks before classes started for the Fall 2014 semester, the finishing touches were still being put on some of the classroom spaces in Yoshihiro Uchida Hall, such as this Recreation classroom.
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- Kinesiology Chair Dr. Matthew Masucci and Professor Masaaki Tsuruike look at one of the kinesiology exercise labs in the weeks before the semester started.
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- In the newly renovated Yoshihiro Uchida Hall the second-story space above the amphitheater has been turned into a rooftop garden and terrace.
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- The mat room, used by the Judo team, was renovated in Yoshihiro Uchida Hall. In this picture, the mat panels had not yet been installed onto the floor.
The newly renovated space has a refurbished mat room that will be used by SJSU Judo, which has a history of training Olympic athletes. The space will be shared with other Kinesiology courses that use floor mats, such as yoga. The building has an amphitheater that is already being used by several large classes for the Fall semester. It was used by the College of Applied Sciences and Arts for the college-wide Fall Welcome Assembly hosted by Interim Dean Alice Hines for as many as 150 faculty and staff. On the second floor, the roof of the amphitheater has been designed as a terrace garden that looks out toward Tower Lawn.
The building has an updated weight training classroom, an exercise physiology research lab, stress management lab and classroom, and an updated instructional gymnasium. The building has additional office space that is being used jointly by Kinesiology faculty and staff, along with the Athletics Department.
A tentative event is being planned in November to rededicate the building and to honor its namesake, Yoshihiro Uchida, who has taught and coached Judo at SJSU since the 1940s.
For photos of the new space since the start of classes, visit http://blogs.sjsu.edu/today/2014/yosh-uchida-hall-renewed/