More students use the Southeast Recreational Facility for their fitness needs than the facility can handle, according to Dale Carruthers, director of the Division of Recreational Sports. For this reason the SERF is receiving its first addition since its completion in 1983 and students can expect to reap the benefits early this summer.
\It's overcrowding really, and it has been for some time now,"" Carruthers said.
The three-level addition will include two almost completely identical lower levels, which will each house two new basketball courts. Half of the third floor will be used to accommodate a group fitness studio. The other half will house equipment for cardiovascular fitness, complete with plasma television screens. The new space will actually triple the current facility.
""It's just an addition, what has existed will still remain; it's new space that we're bringing in that was desperately needed,"" Carruthers said.
Students who use the facility on a regular basis will find that the old cardiovascular areas will now be geared toward group meetings, as such facilities were lacking before. Some of the old equipment will be moved to the addition, but most of the equipment will be new.
The addition will open space to allow more students to use the equipment at one time.
Students have taken note of the current state of crowding at the SERF, even those who do not directly use the equipment.
""I always see people coming in. It's always full at the entrances,"" Laura Behm, a UW-Madison freshman said. ""I can see a need for expansion in places.""
However, the SERF addition is just one of many construction projects to take place at UW-Madison. Other projects include moving the Department of Physics into the currently vacated Chamberlin Hall, which formerly housed the School of Pharmacy.
""Now that pharmacy has moved into a completely new school, we plan on moving physics into Chamberlin,"" said Perminder Ahleuwalia, director of major projects on campus. ""This is an almost $32 million project.""
While Ahleuwalia did not specify a completion date for the Chamberlin Hall project, the addition at the SERF is expected to open early this summer.
