Weight Room Renovations Complete -- Final Result Adds 700 Square Feet

If you've been in the free weight room housed at Decker Gymnasium lately, things might seem a bit different.

Over winter break this year, Mansfield began renovations to the weight room that included tearing down a large section of wall from the lower right corner of the room. On the other side of the wall used to be a large section of lockers housed in the men's main locker room. This section of lockers was removed over the break to make room for what would become part of the new and improved weight room facilities at Mansfield.

With the lockers completely removed from the facility, construction began on the new section of wall that would once again enclose the weight room. A total of 700 square feet has been added to the total area of the weight room.

Mansfield Football's Most Improved Player from the 2005 fall season, Jon Mattis, says "The new additions to the weight room will help us out in a big way. With that much extra room, we won't be crammed all together trying to get our lifting done."

Jon is not alone, nor football the only program that will benefit from the renovations. All of Mansfield's athletics teams use the facility on a regular basis. From Cross Country and Soccer to Softball, Baseball and all sports in between, all athletes will benefit from the renovations.

The free weight room is also open daily for current Mansfield students with proper ID's, who may want a free weight lifting environment rather than the machine style lifting available at the fitness center. The additions to the weight room are not only for Mansfield athletes, but are for students and faculty as well.

The added space isn't the only positive that has come from the new renovations. New flooring has been laid down adding another aesthetically pleasing piece to the weight room. Along with the new flooring comes new additions in equipment.

Headlining the new additions to the equipment is a complete new dumbbell set. On top of the new dumbbells are a selection of new bars, including straight bars and dead lift bars, as well as new weight racks. A new neck machine is on the way as well.

Final renovations are now complete and the weight room is fully operational.

Below is a look at some of the before, during, and after shots of the weight room.