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There’s more than one recreation center at Iowa State.

In the basement of the Memorial Union lies ISU’s other rec center. The Recreation Center offers a variety of games, including nine pool tables, eight bowling lanes, three chess/checker tables and more than 25 arcade and pinball games.

“It is just a place to come out and have a good time,” said Natalie Bright, senior in management information systems. “It is a great place to go and relax between classes or in the evening.”

Comparatively speaking, Bright said the center’s prices are cheaper than area recreational centers and bowling alleys. She also enjoys the smoke-free environment.

“It is not smoky,” she said. “A lot of my friends that are not 21 can play. They don’t have to sneak into bars to play.”

According to “The First Fifty Years: Iowa State Memorial Union,” by Harold Pride, the center was the result of a $100,000 south wing addition to the MU in the late 1930s.

Pride wrote, “[Students] asked to have the building expanded to provide more ballroom floor space, more room for tables and chairs in the Commons, more office and meeting space for student organizations and some provision for bowling, which had not been included in the original plans.”

Recreation Center employee Aaron Roberson, senior in landscape architecture, said the center constantly is trying to improve by bringing in new games and offering games such as glow bowling.

“We always try to get the best games,” he said. “About once a month there are new games coming in, and sometimes we get ‘test games.'”

The center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.