The Emporia State Student Recreation Center reopened the doors to its weight room on Sept. 4 following months of damage repairs. The damage resulted from a car crashing through a window on the west side of the SRC, where the weight room is located, in late February. All other facilities of the rec center reopened later that month.
Mike Wise, director of recreation services, stated that the damage done to the facility was “extensive,” affecting two walls, the flooring and all of the equipment. Wise described the incident:
“As the car entered the weight room through the window, it came through the center of the room at a very high speed. As it began hitting the weight equipment, it mangled the pieces and tossed them in all directions, striking other pieces on the sides of the room. As the car got to the east wall of the room, it struck a final piece of equipment that was bolted to the ground and struck a load-bearing wall, cracking the wall and pushing it out of place several inches.”
Wise said the load-bearing wall was braced before repairs could be made. When repairs began, supports were built to support the roof while replacing the interior wall entirely. They then set the roof back down, repaired the exterior wall and replaced its window. They fixed gouging in the cement floor from the car and redid the flooring in the weight room and the commons room. The majority of the room needed repainting.
The SRC also had to replace all of its weight room equipment because it had been damaged, reordering the exact equipment it had before. Two years before the accident, the SRC completely remodeled its weight room with brand-new equipment, so no upgrades were necessary.
“Now that the room is reopened, it is exactly the way it was before the accident and has all the same equipment,” Wise said.
According to Wise, only minor repairs, such as graphics and signage, are still waiting to be completed. The equipment reorder also included a couple of incorrect pieces. Graphics/signage and the finishing equipment are expected to be installed within the next two weeks.
“We are so excited to get the weight room back for the students,” said Wise. “Even though we are putting on a few final touches to the room, we felt it was important to get it back to the students as quickly as possible. It is such a relief to reach the point where the room is fully functional, and we hope the students are happy with it and enjoy coming in and using all the new equipment.”
The SRC is open to all faculty, staff, alumni and students with a Hornet ID card or a recreation services membership card. Its hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
