It's not every day that Penn administrators publicly don their Lycra spandex.
But the David S. Pottruck Health and Fitness Center opened yesterday, and gym hounds -- from students to University officials -- arrived in workout attire to try out the new facilities.
Construction on the Pottruck Center, located on the 3700 block of Walnut Street, began in the summer of 2001, and the building's doors have opened an entire year earlier than originally planned.
However, while Sheerr Pool and the fitness space on the first two floors are accessible -- and a new mandatory $200 recreation fee has already been tacked onto this year's tuition bill -- the third and fourth floors, which will offer space for activities such as dance and martial arts, are not yet finished.
"We're ahead of schedule, but we've still got some things to do," Recreation Director Michael Diorka said, noting that the $23 million facility should be complete by Sept. 23. "We're pushing really hard."
In the ground floor's packed fitness room, University President Judith Rodin ceremonially snipped a blue and red ribbon from an elliptical machine and then proceeded to run on it, joining the long row of pounding feet, bouncing ponytails and flushed faces.
The building is still filled with cardboard boxes, the buzzing of electrical saws and the faint smell of fresh paint, but those minor inconveniences didn't hold back the droves of Penn's heart-healthy and muscle-bound students from the new treadmills, elliptical machines and strength training equipment.
"Most of the kids are appreciative that we could get them in here, and little by little, it'll unfold," Diorka said. "And by October, we'll have a complete building."
Touting the Pottruck Center as one of the most impressive university fitness centers in the country, administrators say they hope the facility will be a selling point to prospective students, most notably athletes.
"We're going to get a lot of visibility out of it," Diorka said, adding that at 17,000 square feet, Pottruck is among the top five largest collegiate fitness facilities in the nation. "I think it's really going to add to students who are recruited here on campus."
The Pottruck Center is not only bigger, more up-to-date and better-equipped than its predecessor, the Katz Fitness Center, but Penn made an effort to make it more aesthetically pleasing -- especially from the inside looking out.
"The view makes a tremendous difference," Rodin said, gazing at the cityscape through the transparent glass walls of the second floor cardiovascular room. "It feels very urban. It's just sensational."
Possibly the most eye-catching aspect of the building is its 37-foot climbing wall, which Provost Robert Barchi demonstrated for the crowd.
"It's a workout," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow after scaling its jagged face.
Another feature of the building is the golf center on the third floor, which, when it opens later this month, will simulate an actual 18-hole course using just a club, a ball and high-tech electronic equipment.
For additional fees, the Pottruck Center will also offer SCUBA classes in the newly renovated Sheerr Pool and climbing lessons, as well as instructional classes in dance, Karate, yoga and Tai Chi as soon as the upper floors are finished.
Gimbel Gymnasium has also been made over, and its basketball courts have been expanded, repainted and refloored, but still lack air conditioning.
Other luxuries include a co-ed sauna -- "Obviously, you're clothed when you go in there," Diorka joked -- a juice and espresso bar, a zoned Muzak system, mood lighting for the cycling room and televisions, which Diorka said would arrive tomorrow.
He also added that there are plans to open a pro shop on the ground floor.
The Pottruck Center's fitness centers are open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., Friday from 6 a.m. to midnight, Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. All Penn undergraduate students can enter with their PennCard, and non-students can buy annual memberships for up to $700, or purchase day passes for $20.
