Madison College’s new fitness center is on track to open next semester. 

Construction for a new fitness center and locker rooms have been in progress since January of 2021. The project is reported to still be on schedule, and there will be some new amenities starting this semester.  

“The timelines hopefully have stayed pretty close to where they thought with the grander project so we feel good about that,” said Steve Hauser, Athletic Director. 

 The current plan is that there will be locker room access starting mid-September for student athletes. As of right now, there are no locker rooms for visiting teams so there are no home games scheduled until then. There were plans for new bleachers to be put in before the opening home volleyball games, but they have been pushed to early November.  

Even though the only facility that is usable is the gym, the college has found ways to keep P.E. classes available and in person. Some classes are in the Redsten Gymnasium while others are being held at the Early Learning Campus.  

“We didn’t want going someplace off campus to be a barrier to students,” said Hauser. “There was space over there with their renovations that were going on so we moved as much equipment as we could there; It is strictly for physical education classes,”  

As soon as the renovations are done, classes will be moved back into the Fitness Center as in years previous. 

During the construction, Madison College has offered free Planet Fitness passes to students taking at least one degree credit class. About 480 students have taken up the offer so far, according to Hauser.  

Students will be prioritized with the new facility. In the past, the Fitness Center was open to community members, but “we need to cater to our internal audience first and kind of meet your needs before we go out and try to help others out.”  

Hours are not yet set, but a rough estimate will likely be 6 AM- 7 PM. This will be adjusted based on use of the facilities and staff availability. The facility will be staffed by students and the job listing will be made available on Handshake in the upcoming months.