EDITORIAL: Rec. center must fit student needs

Administrators should build a new recreational center closer to the dorms, and it should be free. The recently released Brailsford & Dunlavey report said most of the University community wants a new recreational facility. The current exercise areas in Gimbel and Hutchinson are in poor condition and suffer from overuse. Students have complained for some time and have asked for new facilities. But we think it is highly unlikely students would be willing to walk across campus and pay a fee to exercise in a new recreational complex, as the report states. The focus groups couldn't possibly be representative of the student body at Penn. More surveys gathering student, faculty and staff input need to be conducted before administrators decide to go ahead with the planning of a for-fee recreational center on the east side of campus. Why? Because putting a new recreational facility behind the Palestra is inconvenient. It's too far from most of the dormitories (with the exception of Hill House). And students living off-campus typically reside on the west end of campus. Trekking across campus to work out in the middle of the winter is not feasible. What University officials should do is build a free recreational facility closer to the center of campus. They are already placing Perelman Quadrangle and Sansom Commons in the middle of the campus. Building a recreational facility closer to Superblock would be ideal. It makes sense to place an athletic complex strategically where most of the Penn community can access it. And more people will use the facility if it is free. Other University divisions should provide funds for the building and maintenance of a recreational facility if the Department of Athletics and Recreation cannot afford one. Specifically, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life should contribute funds since students want a new recreational complex to use in their free time. If administrators are serious about building a new recreational facility, they should construct it near the heart of campus and let everyone use it for free.