I hate the sound of a broken record and I hate writing articles that appear to be one, but the Mueller Center just does not get it. No matter how loud the grumblings grow, the facility managers cannot figure out that they serve the entire Rensselaer student body.
Last year, the Mueller Center introduced numerous new equipment and new floor plans that eliminated popular equipment from the lower level of the building. New squat cages and power clean platforms used almost exclusively by members of athletic teams forced the removal of heavily-used bench press, incline press, and decline press machines.
I voiced my concern that the absence of this gear would cause tie-ups with the remaining presses and force extra traffic to divert their workouts to the dumbbell benches. It did. Workout efficiency for students decreased and frustration certainly increased as waits for equipment became the norm, especially during peak hours.
Sometimes change is just not a good thing.
The Mueller Center obviously disagrees, and as if to taunt me and the rest of the Rensselaer student body, has decided to make yet another round of revisions to the lower level of the facility. More bench presses were removed along with an incline and decline press in order to clear space for more squat cages and power clean platforms. The numbers of bench presses have reduced from six to two over the last two years while the number of squat cages doubled.
Not only did the Mueller Center remove the equipment, but it has failed to offer alternatives for users wishing to press a bench. During its last string of changes a year ago, management at least had the foresight to provide more moveable benches and dumbbells in exchange for the bench presses. That is not the case this year.
Facility directors can successfully argue that dumbbell press and adjusting the squat cages to serve as bench presses provide the same benefit as standard bench presses. Without the addition of more transportable benches or dumbbells, however, students cannot utilize these options.
In just the first week after the establishment of the aforementioned changes, the Mueller Center is now seeing tie-ups on bench presses and dumbbells during non-peak hours.
What’s worse, the staff is openly placing signs around the building stating the football team will be working out from 4-6 pm, virtually warning people to stay out for two hours during what is many RPI students’ only available gym time.
I’m tired of singing the same old refrain, but as long as the Mueller Center continues to disregard the body which it is intended to serve, the complaints will continue.
