Late night gym-goers may have to turn elsewhere after a reduction in nighttime hours at Southwest Recreation Center.
David Bowles, senior director for Recreation and Health Promotion Services, said the UF Department of Recreational Sports reduced its weekday closing hour from 1 a.m. to midnight. This took effect during the Summer A semester.
Bowles, who has served in the position for 15 years, said data taken from the 2016-2017 academic year was a large part of the decision. Numbers were collected from facility turnstiles and in-person gym use assessments.
“It is not cost-effective (to stay open), and it does not provide service to enough students to make it worthwhile to stay open,” Bowles said.
Lauren Est, a 20-year-old psychology junior, needs that hour. Her “inverted schedule” to put herself through college involves working at least two nights per week at Salty Dog Saloon until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., attending morning classes, sleeping all day and beginning the cycle anew.
Est said paying rent and out-of-state tuition play a large part in having to work, especially at such odd hours.
“It’s definitely going to be harder to use facilities that are supposedly given to me by my tuition,” Est said. “That’s what’s most personal to me.”
She said that she was unaware of the change during Summer A as she was out of town. She was concerned about her future workout routine.
“Not being able to use those facilities based off of my schedule, especially with most gyms nowadays being 24 hours, I definitely feel like it’s not as inclusive, in a way, financially speaking,” Est said.
Bowles said that the decision comes down to numbers. By trimming the hour, the department saves $14, 251 per year for the department’s budget of $6,886,565. Most costs could be attributed to paying student employees, most of whom work part-time and many of whom make minimum wage.
“Of the 700-plus recreational sports students employed, there are approximately 250 of those that are working minimum wage who are directly impacted,” Bowles said, “and then it... forces a certain number of the other employees’ pay to have to increase.”
Employees like lifeguards, trainers and group fitness instructors may be paid more based on certifications or skills.
Bowles said that when traffic data was collected, an average of 23.8 people entered Student Rec after midnight.
Gina Porrazzo, a 19-year-old business administration sophomore, said she works out late at night to avoid long lines for weights and machines during the daytime. She added that while the gym can be sparsely populated during the midnight hours on some days, other days see more traffic.
“There have been nights where I’d go in the weight room – it would be, like, 12:30 (a.m.) – and I couldn’t even find a weight rack,” Porrazzo said.
Porrazzo said that in such cases, there would be “a solid 100” people using the gym’s facilities. Spikes in traffic, she said, could be attributed to the fact that many people go in pairs or occasionally groups.
Bowles said the decision was made by the organization’s board of directors, which is mainly comprised of students. He also consulted with former Student Body President Smith Meyers and current-President Ian Green when the decision was being discussed.
Bowles added that if increased traffic in the Fall suggested that the department reopen facilities during the cut hour, it would certainly be looked into.
“We’re always evaluating that data and trying to make sure that we are good stewards of students’ fee money,” Bowles said.
Follow Jacob Kovach on Twitter @jacob_kovach and contact him at jkovach@alligator.org.
Gina Porrazzo, 19, works out at Southwest Recreation Center just before midnight. She said she enjoys going this late due to decreased waits for machines and other amenities.
Southwest Recreation Center at 11:53 p.m. “It is not cost-effective (to stay open), and it does not provide service to enough students to make it worthwhile to stay open,” said David Bowles, Senior Director for Recreation and Health Promotion Services said the UF Department of Recreational Sports.
