New mezzanine level will free up space on crowded main floor
By Jim Hynes
The Fitness Centre in the McGill Sports Complex has now reopened after undergoing an extensive renovation this past spring and summer.
Closed since mid-April, the Centre opened its doors this past weekend after a more than 2000-square-foot mezzanine was added above the popular and often overcrowded main room used by McGill students and staff to work out.
“Space has been a huge issue for us for some time now,” said Katie Uttley, Sport Clubs and Fitness Centre Manager at McGill Athletics and Recreation. “We have a high usage from about three o’clock on. There are many people standing around waiting to get on certain pieces of equipment, which limits the flow of the area.”
The new mezzanine level, a floating floor supported by eight concrete pillars above the Centre’s existing cardio area, is adjacent, but not connected to, the existing narrow mezzanine that was used mainly as a stretching area before the renovations.
“The concern was that there wasn’t enough space to do functional movement type exercises, so that was what we were originally going to do with the new level,” Uttley said. “But our plans have changed somewhat due the nature of the new space, so we’re going to be moving a lot of our strength machines and smaller cardio machines that don’t require electricity, like spin bikes and rollers, up there. That will free up space on the bottom floor. The freeweight area was functioning at capacity, so this just opens up the whole space that much more to accommodate that.”
During the renovations, some cardio machines were moved to the Spin Room, and Fitness Centre members had access to the strength training machines in the Varsity Weight Room.
The renovation work, which also included a new paint job, was completed at the end of last week, and Uttley and her Fitness Centre colleagues have spent much of this past week getting it ready, cleaning up and moving and setting up the machines. No new exercise machines have been purchased for the Fitness Centre, but upgraded versions of some existing machines have been added.
For more information on the Fitness Centre, visit www.mcgill.ca/athletics/facilities/fitnesscentre/