After a $13.5 million renovation, the East Gym is set to reopen by the start of next semester.
The East Gym will be open and available for students and faculty starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28. Students and faculty will not need a membership to use the gym for the first 5 days it is open.
The Campus Recreation staff has planned giveaways for the first 500 people to visit the gym each day of its opening weekend. Food will also be available for students.
The East Gym will be open from 5:45 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays. Student memberships will cost $100 per semester or $180 for two semesters. A full-year membership will cost $220, which includes the summer and winter months when classes are not in session.
The remodeled gym will feature a FitSpace area with 65 pieces of cardio equipment, including 20 treadmills with personal TV, a strength-training area with more than 30 circuit stations and 40 dumbbells weighing up to 150 pounds.
“Almost all of the equipment in FitSpace is new,” said Janice Bennett, associate director of Campus Recreation.
A wellness suite with a full massage table, facilities for personal trainers and space for individual private consultation with a nutritionist or trainer will be available to students for an extra fee. A “grab and go” case for food will also be accessible to students, which can be purchased with a meal plan. The East Gym will also have lounge space with new furniture.
About 100 group fitness classes will be offered per week in the East Gym’s three renovated multipurpose rooms. The three different rooms will hold about 40, 32 and 24 people, respectively.
“The bigger spaces will allow us to run larger classes,” Bennett said.
Bennett also said that the rooms will be adjustable to fit the mood of the different classes offered.
“One of the nice things about the multipurpose rooms is that they have independent light and heat adjustment,” Bennett said.
The East Gym will have a newly renovated gymnasium and locker rooms. Students who do not have a membership may still access the gymnasium for basketball and other open gym sports, as well as the pool for lap and recreational swimming.
Bennett said the locker rooms were “totally gutted — floor to ceiling, wall to wall.” Both half and full lockers are available to be rented per-semester or per-day if students provide their own locks. A towel service is included with the semester-based rental fee.
Rental of outdoor supplies like tents, backpacks, snowshoes or cross-country skis is available at the Outdoor Pursuits office.
Decisions for the gym’s features were made in part by a Program Advisory Board consisting of faculty, staff and student members giving input.
Jackie Berks, a sophomore majoring in accounting, said the new gym will be an improvement from the current FitSpace, located in the Old University Union.
“I’m excited for the gym to open because I want to work out almost every day,” Berks said. “The gym this year sucks.”
Jasmin Martinez, a junior majoring in history, noted that the East Gym will have to compete with other local, more affordable workout centers.
“A part of me is excited for the East Gym because I know it’s going to be a new facility and it’s going to be nice,” Martinez said. “But I think it is more expensive than Planet Fitness, and although it’s convenient being right on campus, I just hope that it ends up being worth it for the money the school spent on it.”
Mike Falco, a junior majoring in accounting, said he is disappointed by the delay of the East Gym reopening and the price of membership.
“It’s ridiculous that I’ve attended Binghamton for the past year and a half and have not been able to use the gym on campus,” Falco said. “And now that the gym is going to open, a semester late, I have to pay $100 to use it.”