Due to needed repairs, the women’sgym at Southern University has shut its doors for the remainder of thesemester.
“Over the summer we found the gymneeded repairs and needed to be refurnished,” said Dr. Raymond Downs, ViceChancellor of Student Affairs. ”The weight room and some of the bathrooms had mold due to poorventilation, and we wanted the building to be fit before students used it.”
The university’s physical plantrecommended the women’s gym for renovations, but the decision was ultimatelythat of Downs.
The gym is utilized for a varietyof activities, from daily cheerleader practices and weight rooms for thestudents. Downs said that thecheerleaders will now practice at Moore Hall, and the university is going totry to get weights in the men’s gym so nothing will be missed over the courseof the semester.
“We also are going to have freeplay basketball on Saturdays and Sundays in the men’s gym,” Downs said.
Besides the women’s gym, thereimprovements also have been made to the dormitories and work is in progress onother student life facilities.
“It’s about time,” said ReggieWilliams, a junior marketing major from Omaha, Nebraska. “That gym has beenthere for centuries and it needs some help.”
The gym is scheduled to open whenstudents return from the winter break in January, but Downs is optimistic. “Itmay open as early as November,” he said, “but we’re prepared for nextsemester.”