Senior Rebecca Gorodetsky has worked at the desk at the Lunder Fitness Center in the Cousens Gym Complex for three years, but the scene on and around the gym's eight treadmills during her mid−afternoon shift the first week of spring semester was among the wildest that she's seen in her time working at Tufts.
"There were so many people waiting that they were blocking the desk, so we couldn't see," Gorodetsky said. "The lines were so long that we had to tell them to go into [the] Gantcher Center."
The legions of students that pack the gym during peak hours — generally weekdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. — are among those who will be most affected by the new Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, which the university plans to begin construction on in mid−April if it gains approval from Medford's Zoning Board of Appeals. The new facility will include a fitness center on the second floor with glass windows overlooking College Avenue.
The complex is slated to open in the fall of 2012, if all goes according to plan. Until then, students hoping to run indoors during weekday afternoons, when the varsity track and field team often practices on the track in Gantcher, will continue crossing their fingers that one of the gym's eight treadmills will be vacant, or else wait it out for a spot to open.
"It's okay in the early morning or late at night, but after 4:30, I've seen huge waits," said sophomore Ben Gertner, who was able to hop on a treadmill yesterday at 4:45 p.m. after hustling down to Cousens. "I've often had to wait 15, 20 minutes to get on."
The line for a treadmill yesterday afternoon grew to four students by 5:15 p.m., and a handful of students headed to the ellipticals in Gantcher instead of waiting for one of the machines to open up. Earlier this semester, signs advising students to leave the treadmills after 30 minutes were spread around the gym in an attempt to alleviate crowding. Yet at some point these signs were removed, and yesterday's staff had no knowledge of any treadmill limit.
"If there was a rule, no one's told us about it," sophomore Jessica Fleischer, a supervisor at the fitness center, said. "It'd be pretty hard to enforce a rule like that anyway."
The waits have been frustrating for students trying to get a workout in during the Boston winter, when running indoors is often the sole option. The late−afternoon time slot is often most convenient for students with busy schedules.
Stories of thwarted attempts to get on a treadmill abound. Katherine McManus, a sophomore, walked into the gym two weeks ago at 4:30 p.m. after getting out of a 4:15 class. She was greeted by a line of eight students waiting for a treadmill, she estimates.
"I tried to go to Gantcher, but the track team was running, and all of the bikes there were taken up by injured track athletes," McManus said. "I ended up just giving up."
Some students who have room in their budget have decided to bypass working out at Tufts altogether, said senior Molly Moulton, who was on a treadmill at the gym yesterday afternoon. Moulton has friends who have purchased memberships at Boston Sports Clubs in Davis Square in order to avoid the line, she said.
"When you're spending half your gym time waiting in line, it's just not worth it sometimes, especially when you're a senior and there's other stuff to do," she said.
The treadmills used to automatically turn off after 30 minutes, Moulton said. But now she has seen students stay on the treadmill for nearly an hour, taking their time even as other students wait for a chance to workout.
"My pet peeve is when people will stay on the treadmill and walk for five or 10 minutes after they finish running," she said. "They don't need to walk. The system needs to be more organized."
For McManus, the prospect of a new athletics complex is quite appealing, bringing the potential for shorter lines and more workout time.
"I'm excited for the new fitness center to open and for us to hopefully not have to wait anymore," McManus said.
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