The building of an athletes-only weight room is among changes occuring within the Athletic Center. After renovating the current weight room two years ago, a plan was set to begin using old storage space as a gym to fit the needs of current student athletes.
Many teams use the weight room for team sessions, leaving little room for other students to use. With the building of the new weight room, athletes will have the chance to schedule certain times in the weight room for team workouts, and it will be open other times during the day for athletes to use on their own.
This gym will inflect many positive effects on the AC, creating a new facility for all student athletes to use. Two reasons were taken into account in the building of this gym: the needs of the modern athlete and to create more space for the current weight room.
“There was an obvious need to meet the evolution of training needs for the modern student athlete. We were falling behind in the need for athletes to compete at the highest level. There was a health and safety issue, and the great need for an elite training facility,” said Athletic Director Matt Bassett. “The second need was to create a much more comfortable workout environment at the rec center. Development will take tremendous pressure off training at the rec center and improve crowd control. This will be able to help the current recreation program.”
The new weight room is about 2,100 square feet and is located where old locker rooms and storage space used to be. Windows will be facing the outside, creating a space where one can see out into the basketball gym area. There will be mirrors covering the wall, with a special mural of past and current Le Moyne athletes covering one wall. A range of Magnum fitness equipment will be located in the workout room, including free weights, dumbbell racks and other equipment commonly found in other intercollegiate weight rooms.
The athletic department met with consultants in the field of student athlete training at the highest level to design the weight room.
“They helped design the space to meet modern training regimen. These consultants surveyed the old weight room, including when we renovated two years ago,” Bassett said. “The campus is 60 percent female and 40 percent male. The new renovation had reflected that campus ratio, with the increase in cardio machines.”
The new athlete weight room will reflect the needs presented by the consultants, providing athletes with the chance to train at the highest level, and increase their performance and strength. This gym is one of many changes to come within the next few years.
An open house for the gym will be held Sunday, Sept. 24, at 10 a.m., when the gym will be 95 percent complete except for the windows. It should be completely finished by Oct. 5.
