Although Southwest Recreation Center has been under renovation since September, the construction’s recent developments may be driving some gym-goers away.
Alandria Mustafa, a Southwest Rec employee, said that there has been a lot of disappointment about non-accessible showers since the center’s locker rooms closed on April 5. While Mustafa said that the new locker rooms will be an improvement to the facilities once they are completed, the current lack of locker rooms is responsible for students finding other gyms to use this summer.
The expansion, which is being funded by a $16.3 million dollar grant received in spring 2008, is scheduled to end in August.
The showers will remain closed until the beginning of the fall semester, according to the center’s website.
An exact number of the students affected by the renovation is difficult to determine, Mustafa said, because precise numbers of locker-room users have never been kept.
The locker rooms’ closure is not the only change students will have to work around in the next few months.
Intramural captain’s meetings will be held in the New Engineering Building, Room 202, and the Intramural Sports office was relocated to a trailer outside of the center. The office will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Cardiovascular equipment was moved to basketball court No. 4 on Jan. 31.
Three of the treadmills are available in the weight room, and the rest have been stored on a racquetball court because the basketball court does not have electricity to power them.
The existing cardio room will be remodeled to house two massage therapy rooms, a personal training studio, an athletic training room and an assessment center.
According to the Department of Rec Sports website, the original entrance space will become a social lounge equipped with TVs, sofas and wireless Internet. The front entrance will also include a glass curtain wall, which will allow gym users to look out onto Hull Road while exercising.
At 140,000 square-feet, the facility will be 40 percent larger than the original structure.
The new center will include an indoor, 1/9-mile track on the second floor.
