Rec. facilities plans get high marks

Penn students and staff applauded the decision to renovate Gimbel. The weight stacks on the leg-press machines at Gimbel Gymnasium made their usual loud "clink" yesterday as University students and staff went through the motions of their daily work-out rituals. Although no one there objected to the changes that will soon transform the room and other parts of the gym into a high-tech fitness center, some students questioned the need to charge a fee for access to the new facility. Around campus, many students hailed the University's decision to renovate two floors of Gimbel to create new exercise spaces. The fitness center will house new weight and aerobic equipment, video and audio systems and full air-conditioning by the end of the summer. Preliminary work on the $1.2 million-project will begin next week. The renovation plans were released Wednesday in tandem with a report based on a 1 1/2-year study by the Washington, D.C., consulting firm Brailsford & Dunlavey. The report recommended tearing down and rebuilding Gimbel and creating a new recreation facility to replace either or both the Class of 1923 Ice Rink and the Levy Tennis Pavilion. Students and staff said they were pleased with the renovation plans, which they said would create a much-needed new exercise space. "I would definitely go to Gimbel if it were renovated," said College sophomore Catherine Zorc, a member of the women's club field hockey team. "And if we'd go as a team, that would be perfect." Chris Burrell, who staffs the front security desk at both Gimbel and Hutchinson Gymnasium, said he will no longer have to tell prospective University recruits to "check out Hutch" when they visit Gimbel and ask to see the cardiovascular equipment. And Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a College sophomore, said he is "quite pleased" with the University's plans. The UA presented a resolution signed by members of the student body to the administration in mid-February, demanding the University comply with the Brailsford & Dunlavey recommendations and construct a permanent recreation facility on the Gimbel site. While Conway said he is pleased with the Gimbel renovation plans, he added that since the UA petition had called for a "permanent" solution -- not a "temporary" one -- the UA "needs to keep on the administration" for a long-term space solution. University President Judith Rodin said Wednesday that plans for the long-term future of Gimbel may be released "within the next six to eight months." But several members of the University community, including School of Social Work graduate student and Gimbel regular Justine Moraff, said yesterday that the University's decision to charge students to use the new equipment was "kind of lame." Students wishing to use the new Gimbel facilities will have to pay a $125-per-year fee -- or $50 per semester plus $25 for the summer -- the same amount the University currently charges to use the fitness room in Hutch. Faculty and staff members will pay $190 per year or $70 for a semester. The fee will allow access to both facilities. "I don't know if I think that's right," Moraff said. "I think it should be included in the tuition." And Conway said he believes there "shouldn't be a fee at all." "But I'm glad that they haven't raised the fee despite the fact that they're adding these new facilities," he added. Other students said they would not mind paying to use the new fitness space. In fact, the report found that a majority of students would be willing to pay up to $200 a semester for better facilities. University City Nautilus Manager Bob Stern said that even he would not argue that "a University of this size needs a work-out facility." But Stern did say that a project like this could hurt business at the health club, located on 40th and Locust streets. Still, he said the club would not change membership costs to meet the added competition. "There's no way we can drop our prices," he said. "There's no way we can afford to. We can't meet our [overhead costs]. These are all expenses Penn doesn't have." University City Nautilus charges the approximately 1,500 Penn students and staff it serves each year a membership fee of $479 for a full calendar year. Per-semester fees change daily, according to when the membership is purchased, and can range from about $35 to $200.

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