Students’ first impression of the newly renovated leisure centre
“I’m fairly satisfied because they took their time, especially because we were charged the same prices,” Galvez said. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
The newly renovated Campus Recreation and Wellness Center reopened after more than a year of construction.
After disappointment and frustration that students faced last semester, the long-awaited opening brought a sense of relief to regular visitors to the UH gym.
“I’m very excited and happy that they’ve finally got the new additions up and running for students,” said Mark Abidde, a senior in the Computer Information Systems department and student assistant at CRWC.
Improvements included replacing all wood and terrazzo floors, renovating the entry and reception desk, additional offices, and repairing the flooring in the second floor fitness area.
The forced confinement of all students on the first floor during construction work led to many complaints. Due to the lack of space, students did not have access to some equipment, but with the reopening of the second floor, this problem seems to have been solved.
“I really liked the extra space to stretch and it was nice to have that extra space again,” said Madison Galvez, a final-year graphic design student. “It’s good for certain days when I might want to do something that’s a little bit away from the hustle and bustle.”
An important addition to the leisure centre as part of this planning was the introduction of the Red Zone on the ground floor.
The Functional Training Studio is equipped with the latest equipment for functional training and athletic performance.
Racks and some cardio and multi-function equipment are available to students, including battle ropes, sandbags, kettlebells and a MARs screen that demonstrates how to perform various exercises using the equipment.
“I liked the bodyweight workouts at Red Zone because before they mostly focused on weights or cardio machines,” Galvez said. “I enjoyed trying different workouts that I couldn’t do before because of a lack of equipment.”
In the Red Zone, additional spaces were also created for students to exercise and the crowd on the second floor was dispersed, Galvez said.
The Red Zone also includes a slam wall for medicine ball workouts, a grass area with a wheelbarrow sled, plyo boxes, and equipment to assist with HIIT workouts or functional training movements.
Students like Abidde also seem to enjoy the addition Shake smartwhich opened four months ago and replaced Smoothie King.
“I know the Smoothie King had a lot of snacks and high-calorie drinks,” Abidde said, “so this definitely feels a lot healthier, and that’s why I like it.”
Although the recreation center appears to have replaced almost all of the flooring throughout the facility, students are unhappy with the time and expense spent on the process.
According to regular gym goers, there have been no changes to the equipment other than the Red Zone, which seems to be very popular with fans.
“I’m somewhat satisfied because they took up a lot of time, especially because we were charged the same prices,” Galvez said. “That bothered me, and I think it bothered a lot of other students, too.”
Galvez and other students complained that some equipment was still broken after the renovation. They believe that replacing the floors didn’t make much of a difference and that replacing the equipment would have been a better approach.
Despite the approximately 15-month closure and the delayed opening, some areas of the leisure centre are still closed, such as the table tennis table and badminton court.
Despite these issues, the CRWC appears to be receiving a positive response, especially from students who are training at the recreation center for the first time.
Everyone present agreed that the facility now looks much cleaner.
“I’ve been going to the gym for three months now and I’ve really enjoyed the experience here,” said Kristal Morales, junior in accounting. “It’s been pretty relaxed and really cool. I’ve been able to do whatever I wanted and I didn’t have to wait for other people to finish using their machines like at other gyms.”
Although Morales has had a much better experience at the recreation center, she made a point of adding more signage and maps throughout the facility to reduce confusion and improve the user experience.
Overall, despite the delayed opening and the closure of parts of the facility, the newly renovated leisure centre is now largely functional and being used by the Coogs.
For more information about the leisure centre, including opening hours, please visit Here.
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