Wolfson Campus Gymnasium Downsizes
Students and faculty looking to get in a pump between classes at Wolfson Campus will do so in tighter quarters this fall after the facility lost more than 7,000 square feet due to its move from the 8000 building to the 7000 building.
Although the gym went from 11,000 square feet to 4,243—the old gymnasium occupied the entire 6th floor of the 8000 building—after the move this summer, long term plans include expansion by stages in the hopes to make up for the lost square footage.
No concrete plans for the expansion have been determined.
“We’re creating this as we go along,” said Wolfson Campus President Richard Soria, who added that the goal is to reach the original size in a couple of years.
The space in the 8000 building that previously occupied the gym has been adjusted to accommodate the Miami Fashion Institute while the David W. Dyer Federal Building is renovated to house the Fashion Institute permanently.
The new gym location is on the first floor of the Wolfson Campus parking garage in Room 7109. From July 2 to July 17, the Fitness and Wellness Center was closed while the equipment was moved to the new site. The reopening on July 18 marked the end of the first phase of the project.
At the old location, there were approximately 126 pieces of equipment, ranging from dumbbell racks to spinning bikes. The current facility holds about 60 pieces.
The remaining equipment is stored in an air conditioned space that will be accessible for maintenance on a regular basis in order to put it to use as the expansion progresses.
Just like the old facility, the new one has lockers for members to store their belongings while they work out. However, the gym will not have showers (the old facility had also been without showers for almost a year due to leakage problems).
In July, the Wellness Center had almost 1,000 members enrolled, and while average daily usage fluctuates from semester to semester, the facility is expected to have 500 to 550 people check into the gym every day during the fall and spring terms.
According to Daniel Estape, the director of the Wellness and Fitness Center, they don’t foresee disadvantages at the new location.
Both facilities have a group exercise room in which classes like yoga, cycling, kickboxing and Zumba, among others are offered.
The schedule for the group exercise room varies slightly from semester to semester and can be found on the center’s Facebook page under MDC Wolfson Fitness & Wellness Center.
The Fitness and Wellness Center serves educational purposes as well. Its circuit room functions as a lab for health classes. Students taking classes such as Wellness, Health Analysis Improvement and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) complete their hands-on assignments in the room.
Credit and noncredit students, faculty, staff and retirees can join the gym on monthly, yearly or semester-long plans. There are no contracts, registration fees or down payments to become a member.
Fees for credit student memberships are $10 a month, $30 for semester-long or $60 yearly. Non-credit students fees are $30 a month, $90 for semester-long or $180 yearly and faculty/staff memberships are $20 a month, $90 for semester-long or $120 yearly.
The Wolfson Campus gym operates Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
