For nearly a decade, students have said UW’s current recreational facilities simply do not meet their needs. The weight rooms are overcrowded and undersized. Treadmills and other cardio machines are always occupied. Group fitness classes and intramural leagues are full. A workout that should take 30 minutes takes two hours. As we have made our way across campus, speaking to student groups and committees, there has been a consistent theme.
The No.1 concern among students is overcrowding in activity spaces. Here at UW, we do not meet the national recommendation for fitness space, nor do we have access to enough gymnasium and multi-use space for fitness classes, sport clubs and student organizations.
The majority of Big Ten schools and several UW System schools have recently voted to make student segregated fee investments to provide more functional, comprehensive recreational facilities for their students. We are hoping students here will realize the value in these types of facilities and vote to upgrade them for future generations of UW students.
The proposed building would have cardio and weight training space that could be up to five times larger than what is currently provided at the Nat. The new facility needs to be large enough to support a campus at which 32,000 unique students use the facilities every year. High on the list of priorities would be an indoor turf field, a jogging and walking track and multi-purpose rooms to accommodate group exercise classes, sport clubs and the activities of student organizations. Additional gymnasiums would also provide large flexible spaces for Rec. Sports programs as well as student use for basketball and volleyball.
Although there are economic troubles across the world, there is some benefit from the economic downturn. According to Facility Planning and Management, capital building projects have been consistently 10-20 percent under budget. The value students would receive for their segregated fee investment is greater now than it has been in years. With a maximum segregated fee increase of $54.19 per semester effective in the fall 2013, a much larger, more flexible facility would be available for students in the fall 2014 semester.
If we as a student body don’t step up to address this growing problem, who will? If not now, when? Without a new building, the shortcomings of our recreational facilities will only get worse as time goes on. It is imperative that we step up and make a commitment for the future students of this great university to provide a larger, more user friendly recreational facility for generations of students to come. The future is in your hands; vote “yes” in the upcoming referendum!
Mike Bernatz ([email protected]) is president of NatUp 2010.
