Planning to work out at the Baker Ferguson Fitness Center last weekend, sophomore Yonas Fikak arrived at the $10 million, 38,000-square-foot fitness facility only to find its doors closed. This semester the college has curtailed weekend hours at the center, which contains fitness and training equipment for all students, faculty and staff as well as for nearly 35 varsity and club athletic teams, in an effort to reduce spending.
“I went to the BFFC on Saturday to work out and I was surprised to see it closed,” said Fikak, who considers exercising a “basic need” that the college is obligated to provide.
The Baker Ferguson Fitness Center, which was open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. during the fall 2009 semester, is now open from 8 a.m until noon. On Sundays the gym opens two hours later than it did last term, operating from noon until 10 p.m. rather than from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Junior Heather Nichols-Haining was one of the many students dissatisfied by the cutbacks.
“[I was] annoyed and a little frustrated to see that the gym is closed for a big portion of the weekend,” she said.
It is especially bothersome because Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings are considered by Nichols-Haining and other students to be “prime gym times.”
“It would make more sense to do . . . noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays,” said junior Brian Wakefield. “Only having BFFC open in the mornings on Saturdays is a little ridiculous . . . Working out hungover is no fun, and most students wouldn’t be up that early anyway on a weekend morning.”
As Fitness Center Director Michele Hanford points out, however, both the BFFC and the Sherwood Center are open 88 hours per week.
“Our survey responses indicated that students tend to like late hours while staff and faculty appreciate the morning times,” Hanford said when asked why she opted for earlier hours on Saturdays.
She added that she did not have a particular group of people in mind when deliberating on the new weekend hours.
“Our head count gives record of general usage. In adjusting hours, we used all this information and tried to accommodate [student, faculty and staff] preferences. It is worth noting also that Sherwood hours were not adjusted at all.”
For many faculty and staff members and even some students, the new Saturday hours are ideal.
“I’m actually totally psyched for the new hours: I’m a morning person, so the new Saturday hours are perfect for me,” said junior Arianna Cortesi.
While many students are annoyed that they will have to change their Saturday routines this semester, some see the reduced hours as a logical sacrifice to save money.
“I think people will adjust their schedules and it will work out,” said sophomore Jack MacNichol, who uses the gym six times per week. “It seems like a pretty reasonable cut. We don’t need a gym open all day every day.”
