With spring break just days away, large amounts of University of Wisconsin students have been doing some last-minute workouts at the South East Recreational Facility, making February the facility’s busiest month.
According to Dale Caruthers, director of Recreational Sports, February was also the busiest month in 2003, during which 75,544 students and faculty members used the facility. The addition of the new cardio room at the SERF in 2003 is believed to have contributed to these high numbers.
Caruthers said the university’s recreational facilities experience a cyclic pattern in student use during the course of the year.
“We see more people during the winter months than the warmer months, with the exception of September, which is our second-highest month in participation,” Caruthers said. “Students seem to be motivated to exercise at the beginning of the year when they are starting anew.”
Some students feel that due to the rising number of attendees at the SERF, there is not enough space or enough workout machines.
“I often times have to wait a half hour just to use a treadmill,” University of Wisconsin student Lauren Lapatina said, adding students pay for the facility and therefore should be able to get their money’s worth.
Caruthers said the growing popularity of the SERF, its limited supply of machines and minimal space is becoming a growing concern.
“The cardio room is too small to meet the needs of the amount of people coming in,” Caruthers said. “We want to promote healthy lifestyles, which requires enough room for people to reap the benefits of the cardio facility, pool, weight room and gymnasium.”
Caruthers added the SERF recently hired a consultant to evaluate how well the facility was meeting the needs of more than 41,000 students and 2,060 faculty members.
A major renovation may be required to satisfy these conditions, which may add another floor to the SERF or build more square footage on the back of the facility.
“We need to ask students what their needs and preferences are and see if a referendum is in order, which would require students to pay a higher segregated fee for added recreational space,” Caruthers said.
University recreational facilities are provided by segregated fees, which come from students’ tuition.
Caruthers noted many students reap the benefits outside the recreational facilities by running around Lake Mendota or playing volleyball at James Madison Park.
“Making sure that students have a place to work out and stay healthy is of utmost importance to us. Our main concern is making sure that people are getting exercise, and if they need a facility with which to do that, then we need to make the necessary changes,” Caruthers added.
Caruthers said future needs are of great importance and the number of people using the SERF is expected to grow. He also said a new addition or renovation would aim to satisfy the demands of students 10 or 15 years down the road.
