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The new gym located in Marshal Square Mall is open to all SU students. The gym comes in light of student complaints over the quality or lack there of Archabold. The new gym offers a slew of new machines and large tv's.

Hits the spot: With its prime location and brand new equipment, this M-Street gym is making waves with SU students, recreation officials

By: Catherine Basham

Posted: 8/31/07

Students looking to break a sweat and burn a few calories flooded to the new Syracuse University Fitness Center in Marshall Square Mall on Monday.

The facility, which completed construction in mid-August, is a 3,900 sq. ft. gym, filled with 44 cardio and circuit-training machines.

"We put in nothing but the best in the new gym," said Joe Lore, interim director of SU Recreation Services.

Student opinions and feedback about recreation facilities on campus were primary factors in the design and planning of the Marshall Square Mall gym. The university is always looking for innovative ways to meet the changing needs of students, said Matt Snyder, director of communications for student affairs.

More than 90 percent of students said they use recreation facilities on campus, according to a SU Recreation Services survey. The university worked quickly to accommodate the growing need for more space and equipment.

The need was obvious on Monday when 338 students passed through the fitness center on opening day. By 9:30 a.m., all 30 cardio machines were in use.

So far, response from students about the new facility has been overwhelmingly positive.

Ross Cantor, a senior policy studies major who works at the new gym's desk, said many of his friends have commented on how much they like the new space.

"The location is good for people who live in the Harrison and Ostrom area, and more convenient for me than going to Archbold," Cantor said.

The mall location was an obvious choice for planning committees, Snyder said. The area gets a lot of foot traffic from students on a daily basis and would be a convenient location for students to drop in to work out.

Another focus for the new gym was to make it as accessible as possible to students and faculty with handicaps. Working closely with the Beyond Compliance Coordination Committee on campus, lots of attention was paid to facility details regarding handicap accessibility.

"We've been proactive instead of reactive," Lore said. There are Braille overlays on all of the treadmills and four total-access weight machines for students in wheelchairs.

A student recently contacted SU Recreation Services about an upper-body cardio machine that is handicapped accessible. The machine was ordered for the student and will be placed in the Marshall Square Mall gym.

"I don't think meeting expectations is what we want to do," Lore said. "We want to exceed them."

Freshman Anjali Chakravarty visited the gym for the first time this week and was mostly pleased with what it had to offer.

"It's nice. The only thing I don't like is that there are no free weights," Chakravarty said.

While the gym is equipped with new machines, there is little room to spare or to add other equipment such as free weights. But other students found a place to work out that is a more convenient alternative to the often overcrowded Archbold Gymnasium.

"I'm in Newhouse and Whitman all the time. It's so convenient. And when it gets cold out, it's right here," said Andrea Senderoff, a sophomore television-radio-film major.

Senderoff said older, cramped recreation facilities leave many students feeling unhappy about working out and may cause them to avoid going to a gym.

"But here they're giving you a great location with convenience and space," she said. "What's your excuse?"

Other "distributed recreation facilities," smaller gyms located on or near campus, have also received new equipment this year, Lore said. This includes fitness centers in Goldstein Student Center, Marion Hall and Brockway Hall. Nineteen new machines were added to Archbold.