It was one of those moments that only happen in a romantic comedy. My workout buddy and I were in Half Acre and we bumped into Robert McDonald, also known as my uncle Bob, the architect and UW alumni behind the gym renovation, who guided us on a tour.
It was an honor to be lead around campus’s newest feature by the architect himself and a family member. First I was surprised, and to be honest a little lost. I wasn’t expecting to go in the new entrance and had issues finding the stairs to go upstairs, but my initial trepidations soon gave way to awe.
There are more windows than I have ever seen in a gym before. We can see the top of the climbing wall, into the gym and the racquetball courts. Uncle Bob said that once phase two is complete the track will be almost a quarter of a mile long and look in on both the new and old gyms.
He pointed out the places that kept the original outside walls, and beautiful arches that are now indoors.
There are more group fitness rooms than I even knew could fit in to one gym. There’s the big room, complete with two projector screens and a state of the art sound system. There are the two dance rooms complete with ballet bars and a special padded floor, and my personal favorite the mind body room that will be an amazing soundproof yoga studio.
The days of finding a locker are a thing of the past. There are the open feeling main locker rooms, but also many other lockers on the first and second floors.
Wednesday afternoon there were a lot of students breaking in the gym, but it didn’t feel crowded. It felt like campus was moving in. My workout buddy and I had no problem getting our own mat, finding a chin up bar and running on the track. It was a good mid-week workout, but it also felt strangely Zen surrounded by great views and a little private stretching corner.
I asked my uncle Bob if he was proud and he was, for a good reason. He ended by saying that he was happy to see people coming out and using the new gym. He said that phase two is well underway and should be open for next semester.
If you haven’t been over to Half Acre yet, now is the time. The gym’s full body makeover was well worth the wait. You’ll find everything for your workout of choice, be it a spin class, lifting or a quick pick up game of b-ball. What are you waiting for?
