The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Recreation Center will be receiving six new treadmills that are predicted to be available to students starting in the Fall 2025 semester.
The Student Government Association (SGA) is helping to sponsor the new treadmills by providing a third of the cost. Rec Sports and the President’s Office will fund the other two-thirds. Though the total cost isn’t known at this time, Dave Suter, the director of Recreational Sports said, “We are not sure of the final cost, but I estimate $85,000 for the 6 slat belt treadmills.”
This will be the first replacement of treadmills since the Rec Center opened in 2012. There were originally 14 treadmills available to students, but at least eight of them have been worn out past repair and retired.
Suter said, “The life expectancy of commercial treadmills is typically 4-7 years. We took very good care of the ones we had and they lasted a long time.”
The faculty decided to invest in new treadmills, partly due to the fact that they are the most popular cardio machines and have the highest usage in the Fitness Center, but they also had to take the students’ voices into consideration.
In the recent past, SGA has received many complaints from students about the condition of the current worn out treadmills. Upon hearing about these concerns, SGA President, Cade Roy, and Chair of Athletics, Intramurals and Club Sports Committee, Ava Welborn, met with Suter to discuss options.
Collectively, it was decided that new treadmills would be purchased through multiple sources, including SGA, the Rec Center and the President’s Office.
Suter says, “Rec Sports is very appreciative for the help and collaboration from SGA and the President’s Office. I feel that this will make a big difference in improving the Fitness Center for our university community.”
He continued, “I think the new treadmills will make a big difference and will be highly utilized when they are installed.”
Ivory Wills, a freshman nursing major says, “I do believe there needs to be more money put into fixing the treadmills because they are constantly out of order.”
The Student Fitness Center is located at 225 Cajundome Blvd. and is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Many students take advantage of these open hours and visit the Fitness Center after classes or after work during the week. On average, around 2,000 students visit the Rec Center per day.
Coreyion Williams, a freshman nursing major, says, “I believe that the Rec is an amazing place to go, but only if you have the motivation for it.”
He continued, “One thing that I love to do there is go to the lap pool and swim. I feel like the Rec really brings people together, like this school year so far, the Rec has given me and my friends something to do after school when we’re bored.”
Due to the amount of machines used everyday, the padding on much of the equipment has become worn down. Rec Sports has already ordered replacements for many of the worn-down machine pads, and they are due to be installed by the end of the current semester.
Students around campus have many ideas about what kinds of improvements are needed for day-to-day use at the Rec Center.
Wills said, “I think there should be more stairmasters because there are only four and one is usually out of order.”
Ivory Manning, a freshman marketing major, said, “I feel like the Rec Center could invest in more basketballs because a lot of times when you go and you’re one of the last few people, everybody already has a ball so you have to sit and wait until somebody is not using one before you get a chance to play on the court.”
There are many areas that students would like to improve in the Rec Center, from the sports equipment at the courts to the workout machines in the Fitness Center.
The director and staff are making improvements one at a time, as the budget allows, starting with new treadmills.