IN TODAY'S age of fitness, one cannot go a day without seeing the workout craze of University students in action. While jogging and outdoor activities may seem to be the most popular form of getting your workout on, the indoor athletic facilities at the University also play a major role in the lives of students who seek to maintain physical fitness. Many of us who use the Aquatic and Fitness Center as our primary venue for working out eagerly look forward to the new addition to the AFC, but as the project comes closer to reality, the University needs to make sure that these additions best accommodate our collective addiction to staying in shape.
With participation rates for intramural sports, fitness programs, aerobics, dance clubs and students groups that conduct physical activities growing to a higher rate than ever before, the Intramural-Recreational Sports Department can't help but notice the overcrowding of their main facility. The traffic patterns and the layout of the main level in the existing AFC fitness area can often make for overcrowded situations and can lead to lengthy waiting lists for particular machines at peak workout hours.
Some of the machines are already under severe wear and tear after only six years of use. However, the AFC facilities managers seem to be on top of keeping things at a top-notch level. Nevertheless, the AFC needs to make certain that the most direct means by which they seek to rectify these situations -- with the new upgrade to the facility -- simply doesn't make the gym even more crowded and more worn than it already has become.
According to the IM Rec Department's Web site, the AFC is entering into "Phase II" of its development -- which includes architects' plans to have an additional three-court gymnasium, an indoor jogging track, several multipurpose rooms and additional free weight space. Designers of the expansion must guarantee that the way students get to these additional spaces don't overcrowd or inconvenience other patrons who regularly work out in existing ones. With the newest add-ons, the designers of "Phase II" of the AFC project need to ensure patrons that the additions to the center are not only comparable with the existing layout of the gym, but provide solutions to the minute problems the facility currently has. The renovation should provide solutions that alleviate the dilemma of traffic patterns before even more regular patrons begin to attend the gym.
As the plans stand now, it seems the additional basketball and volleyball courts will not interfere with the existing fitness area, and as long as extra entrances are provided this does not appear like it will be a problem. However, with so many exits and entrances and the additional weight room which is to extend primarily from the basketball courts -- not the pre-existing weight room -- getting from one place to another might become very confusing and traffic could become an issue if proper and large enough connections through corridors and halls aren't made by designers.
In creating these additions, it should be a primary goal of designers to make sure that the gym's new layout is as fluid as possible, as well as affording patrons the additional amenities any workout facility should come equipped with. In addition to basketball courts and extra cardiovascular and fitness rooms, the University needs to keep pace with growing numbers of participants and up the ante in terms of the fitness and weight room equipment. The newest version of the AFC needs to be equipped with better and more natural lighting, mirrors in the weight room areas, a more clear sound and public announcement system, but most importantly, an improvement to the ventilation systems.
While students and faculty look to the AFC to improve their physical well-being, the University needs to account for the health and safety of its patrons and provide proper systems for exposure to air and light-provisions that aren't currently at their finest. According to plans for the renovation, the existing structure will not be changed much, but improvements to what we already have should also be taken into consideration.
Withstanding the current renovation, I am sure the University is looking at fire codes and proper safety regulations for the new layout and equipment, but with that said, the AFC needs to take into account all matters that will help to improve the fitness of our community as these plans continue to be under way.
While I hope that the Universityand the AFC architects are also looking at upgrading older facilities such as Slaughter and Memorial Gym in due time, the focus now seems to be on the AFC. As the addition to this project comes to pass, it should do so in as seamless and comparable a manner to existing structure as possible. In theory, the only trouble exercise fanatics should have during their workouts should be with the weights and within themselves.
(Kazz Alexander Pinkard's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at kpinkard@cavalierdaily.com.)
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