The Kenneth D. Miller Building, located behind and to the right of Reynolds Gymnasium, boasts new exercise facilities, including state of the art student fitness and aerobics rooms. Photo by Lisa Hoppenjans/Old Gold and Black.

A New View on Exercise
By Jaclyn Elledge
Old Gold and Black Reporter

Too many people. Too few machines. Too little space. Students wanted more than the Benson University Fitness Center offered.

“It’s always packed,” said sophomore Quentin Fogan.

“I have to wait forever for an elliptical machine,” said senior Miriam ImOberstag.

“Everything just seems so out-of-date,” said junior Vanessa Vinsant.

Max Floyd, the director of campus recreation, responded to these complaints by transforming the extra space in the Kenneth D. Miller Center, home to Student-Athlete Services, into the Fitness Center, a new workout facility for students and faculty members on the Reynolda campus.

“This opportunity kind of just came upon us, and we’re doing the best we can,” Floyd said. “We don’t have all the niceties of a student recreation center. We don’t have a new pool or a climbing wall, but we have quality workout rooms that we can continue to build on and respond to student needs. It’s an ongoing thing. We want to have as many recreation options as possible.”

On Nov. 9, the Benson University Fitness Center, will close its doors to students and faculty members. The Fitness Center in the newly constructed Miller Center will open sometime during the ensuing two weeks, according to April Nelson, the fitness center coordinator. The fitness center will be open to all students, faculty and staff members on the Reynolda campus. Paid memberships will be available for family members of faculty and staff through campus recreation.

Construction on the Miller Center began in late 2000 and will be complete when the fitness center opens in mid-November. Most of the building provides services for student-athletes, but the first and fourth floors, originally planned for storage space, will be open to students and faculty. After it opens, the facility will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays.

“I am extremely excited for the students,” Floyd said. “We’re not quadrupling the square footage from Benson, but the quality of the space, the machines and the programming will exceed what students have been accustomed to in Benson.”

The first floor houses the fitness center, a workout room with cardiovascular and strength-training equipment, for students and faculty as well as a locker room, training room, equipment room and team meeting room for the basketball teams. Student-Athlete Services, which provides student-athletes with academic assistance, life skills seminars and career guidance, is on the second floor, and the Dave Budd Gymnasium occupies the third floor. The fourth floor houses two state-of-the-art exercise rooms for student programming, and six elliptical machines face a window overlooking Kentner Stadium.

“We have a great variety of equipment,” Nelson said. “There’s a lot of innovative stuff I think students will like.”

“When we looked at equipment for the new center, we wanted a variety of training options and machines that wouldn’t break down and fall apart. As well as aesthetically pleasing equipment, we wanted durable equipment. What we have is top-of-the-line,” Floyd said.
In the workout room on the first floor, students will have six cardiovascular training and five strength-training options. Cardiovascular training options will include treadmills, elliptical machines, full-body elliptical machines, recumbent bikes, upright bikes and rowing machines. Strength training options will include selectorized training equipment, free motion equipment, free weights, plate-loaded weights and resistance training equipment.

The workout room also offers eight televisions and a sound system that will allow each individual to select his or her own audio on a personal walkman.

The aerobics program and other exercise classes will be offered in the exercise rooms on the fourth floor. Aerobics classes moved from Benson to the fitness center last week and will adhere to the same schedule. “Hopefully, interest in classes will increase with the move,” Floyd said. “The exercise rooms have floors designed especially for aerobics, mirrors and a state-of-the-art sound system.”

According to Nelson, orientation sessions will be offered to acquaint students and faculty with the new facility, its equipment, its programs and its policies. “We don’t want to exclude people, but it’s been an administrative mandate that cards are essential to entry,” Nelson said. She emphasizes that students and faculty will be required to present valid identification in order to use the facilities. Nelson said, “No WFU ID, no entry. No exceptions.”

In mid-November, the paint will be fresh, and the facility will be ready for students and faculty to work out.

“I know it’s been a long wait, and everybody’s been getting excited,” Floyd said. “When we’re ready in a few weeks, the weather will be turning sour, and the timing will be perfect.”