The weight is over – or it could be, now that extensive renovations on Alumni Gym have been completed.
There are plenty of opportunities to break a sweat. The new facility is open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 11 p.m.
The 12,000-square-foot center is a knockout. At triple the size of the former facility, it features an upper level with more than 40 pieces of cardio equipment and 20 weight training machines.
The lower level houses free weights, a dance and aerobics room, offices, upgraded locker rooms and more.
The new gym, made possible by an anonymous gift of $2 million, “will fill a critical void for the entire campus community,” said Interim President Jim Underwood, noting not only the increased fitness factor but attractiveness to applicants.
The project was designed by Sacco and McKinney Architects and built by MLB Construction Services. The design preserves many of the architectural elements of the original 1914 building, such as arched windows and roof structure, while adding new lighting, flooring, reception area and other features.
Both gym levels contain custom audio and video systems with plasma TVs, and one recumbent bike has its own “cardio theater.” Users can plug headphones into consoles and tune to the audio on any of the six TVs. All of the cardio machines face the gym's east wall.
“I love the natural light coming in through the large new windows,” said one junior, thrilled at what he discovered his first day back from spring break.
“This really gives us a ‘wow' factor,” said Jim McLaughlin, director of athletics.