Gym closure displaces frequent visitors

Sections of the Goergen Athletic Center (GAC) are closed this month for renovations to the upstairs weight room. The Fitness Center Improvement Project is scheduled to take place from Sept. 8 to Sept. 22 and will involve UR Facilities workers installing a new floor in the Bloch Fitness Center.

It became necessary to repair cracks in the concrete underneath the Fitness Center in the fall of 2013. A flyer available at the GAC front desk states that the damage was caused by a combination of an 80-year-old ceiling with large aggregate in the concrete, steam from the showers, and wear and tear from usage above the locker room ceilings, i.e. people dropping weights. The mens and womens locker rooms in the GAC are located directly beneath the Fitness Center.

GAC Associate Director Kristine Shanley said that the damage had become more obvious last fall when large pieces of concrete started falling from the locker room ceiling. A light fixture previously anchored in the ceiling had also fallen down. As a result, repairs to the concrete were made this past spring. Shanley said of the repairs, [UR Facilities] tapped out all of the loose pieces, patched it, and painted it overnight so we didnt have to close the locker rooms.

This falls renovations have been in the planning stages since last November. When asked why the gym couldnt have been renovated over the summer, Shanley explained that it took a long time to plan the project, design the new layout, organize the necessary funds, and have the new composite floor sections manufactured.

A new, thicker composite floor is being installed on top of the old one. Assistant Director of Facilities Operations Barry McHugh said that this will help pad the concrete under the weight room, an important consideration in a second-story gym. McHugh stated that the new floor weighs 36,000 pounds in total, so it will have to be installed in sections, but that he hopes to be finished before the projected completion date of Sept 22.

In the meantime, the gym closure has displaced some student athletes. Sophomore softball player and GAC employee Ix Chel Mendieta de la Torre said, For practice, we cant do lift, which is a part of our schedule. Mendieta de la Torre explained that she and the other members of the softball team have had to change their workout schedule while the gym is closed, focusing on cardio and body weight exercises instead of weight lifting.

Other teams who use the weight rooms will be affected as well, even those who use the adjacent varsity weight room instead of the Fitness Center. Although no renovations are being made to the varsity weight room, it will be rendered inaccessible by the closure of the Fitness Center.

This is a disruption, no doubt about it, Shanley said, but added that she has tried to help athletes work around the gyms hiatus. One of the things I tried to do was get out and talk to students whom I know [...] get out to our coaches and [...] explain what was happening.

Mendieta de la Torre said that as a student employee of the GAC, she has encountered some negative feedback about the project from gym patrons. Most are upset that the weight room will be closed, she said, but [she thinks] theyll be happy once its renovated.

The layout of the Fitness Center was changed once before, in November 2013, to alleviate the damage caused by dropping weights. Those changes included the addition of a core and stretching area, as well as the removal of some of the dumbbells and barbell racks. When the renovations are completed later this month, those items will be returned to the weight room, in addition to some new equipment.

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Gym closure displaces frequent visitors