MANSFIELD, Ohio — The campus tour at The Ohio State University at Mansfield will include a new stop from now on.
The newly-renovated weight training facility will be a must-see for prospective students and a selling point for the university.
An open house for the recently completed $50,000 upgrade project was held Monday afternoon in the student recreation center. A handful of students took advantage of the facility as curious passers-by filed in to take a look at the complex.
“When I first arrived on this campus four-and-a-half years ago, this was one of the three things that I said we really needed to fix because it was broken,” said Steve Gavazzi, dean and director of the Mansfield campus. “You could walk into most high schools in the area and see a better weight room than we had here.”
The former weight facility was gutted and the redesign started from scratch. The room was repainted and new room-length mirrors were mounted on the walls. Rubberized flooring was installed and all new equipment was purchased.
“We had people come up from Columbus and consult with us. … They helped us diagram the room,” athletic director Mike LaCroix said. “It was something that was much-needed. Everything is brand new for the students.
“We are also part of the capital campaign. There is a little over a million dollars that is going to go into the building. It’s in the early stages … but we’re kind of leaning toward an auxiliary-type gym that will hold a multi-purpose room.”
Early returns of the facility were favorable.
“I love it,” freshman engineering major Duana Nyei, 19, of Cleveland said between sets on the bench press. “The room has gone through a big transformation.
“The old weight room was nothing like this. They really delivered for us.”
Freshman Lee Burley agreed.
“I’m in love,” said the 20-year-old Burley, an Ashland native and a freshman business major. “A lot of times, kids would go spend money at other gyms instead of coming to the free facility here. Now they will stay on campus.”
The weight room project is part of a bigger investment in the campus area.
“We’re very invested in continuing to create these kinds of opportunities for students. We’re really building out to be a much more residential campus than we have been,” Gavazzi said. “We’ve had the first 230 beds of what will eventually be 500 new beds that will be part of Buckeye Village. That gives us 700 total residential students and that’s half of our campus. We will have gone from approximately 10 percent residential to 50 percent residential with that completed build.
“When you have that many residential students, you have to have first-rate workout facilities. You have to have a first-rate library and you have to have a first-rate dining facility. We’re in the midst of renovating the dining facility this May and June. We have the weight room done and we’ve already completed the Bromfield Library and Information Commons. We’re really doing what we need to do to be a more residential campus.”
