By Jason Haley
Ever since Penn State Altoona announced last spring that it would be spending $24.5 million to renovate the Adler Athletic Complex, many students, faculty and staff have been curious about what the new Adler would have to offer.
Now that the gym is open, visitors have been able to see the improvements made at the Adler Athletic complex. The expansion and renovation of Adler includes a new gym, fitness center and weight room, locker rooms and classrooms.
As visitors walk into the Adler Athletic complex, they can smell that the place is new. It also shows in the number of windows and new workout equipment. The renovations have some students excited. Aaron Andrews, a freshman, said, “having three benches in the gym is great because I don’t usually have to wait to work out.”
Although Andrews said that he was “very happy” with the renovations, he said one drawback is that the gym can get “crazy busy at night when everyone is done with class.”
Brendan Spickler, a desk worker at the gym, said the busiest times are at night starting at seven o’clock. Spickler said that some renovations of Adler that are still to come.
“They are redoing the pool currently,” he said. “I was told the pool was opening sometime in December.”
Spickler said that his favorite new feature of Adler Athletic Complex is the new gymnasium. Spickler described the new gymnasium and fitness center as “head and shoulders better than it used to be.”
Sophomore Luke Hollingshead said that the new gym is equipped with a lot more workout equipment for arms and legs. As a sophomore, Hollingshead knew what the old Adler building lacked. According to him, it was a lot of things.
“The old building didn’t even have treadmills,” Hollingshead said, referring to when the treadmills were removed from Adler during the renovations.
When asked what he would add to the new building, Hollingshead named locker rooms for the everyday gym-goers like himself. He said that he also hoped that the pool would be finished on time.