Weight Room Renovations Underway -- Final Result Will Add 700 Square Feet

If you've been in the free weight room housed at Decker Gymnasium lately, things might have seemed a bit different. Perhaps the divider sections typically seen in the Office Space type of movie had you wondering.

The dividers are in place of what used to be the lower right side wall of the Mansfield University free weight room (seen below). So why the dividers? And what happened to the wall that was once there?

It's gone.

This winter break, 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 now completely removed from the facility, construction has began on the new section of wall that will once again enclose the weight room. When this wall is complete, a total of 700 square feet will be 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 will come from the new renovations. New flooring will be 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 set to be completed by the end of the spring semester with the grand opening of the new weight room yet to have a set date. When that date is set, Mattis affirms, "You won't even recognize it when its finished. It's that much of an improvement."

Below is a look at some of the ongoing renovations...