Wichita State’s Heskett Center continues making changes to make it easier for everyone to use it.

The upgrades from last school year include new weight room equipment, new paint in the Wiedemann Natatorium, new flags and lane lines in the pool and a couple of renovated bathrooms, one of which has been converted to a gender-neutral shower room.

Campus Recreation paid for the new recreation equipment, while the university’s Physical Plant paid for the cosmetic upgrades.

“In the fiscal year of 2015, we were able to initiate a number of different upgrades throughout the Heskett Center,” said Eric Maki, director of Campus Recreation. “The first was the purchase and installation of over $100,000 worth of new weight room equipment from Cybex International. We were the first university in the country to install their new Cybex Eagle line.”

Three new pieces of equipment are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act due to a partnership between Campus Recreation and Disability Services.

“They have a feature on them that allows somebody who might be wheelchair-bound to pull a pin and slide a chair out of the way so they can roll in with their wheelchair,” Maki said. “That allows them to do some strength and conditioning workouts.”

Campus Recreation also bought a $6,500 piece of cardiovascular equipment from a company called “NuStep.”

“It allows users that, again, have a physical challenge or limitation to still be able to get some type of cardiovascular workout,” Maki said.

The new workout equipment has been well received by students.

“I think there was a good improvement,” senior Pablo Weller said. “[The new pieces of equipment] look better. They help you work out better — especially back muscles.”

Weller said he would like to see something new involving the tennis courts. Three of the six tennis courts to the east of the Heskett Center are closed because cracks on those courts pose a safety hazard to players.

Maki said he recognizes the need for improvements in that area.

“The life of those courts is about 10 years before you’d have to resurface them. So, we are still trying to speak with Physical Plant about how we can partner to really restore all of our courts.”

Another outdoor recreation area may also be updated soon. The Paracourse — an obstacle course made of wood near the entrance to the Heskett — was taken down in March because it was falling apart after so many years of use, said Grady Landrum, director of Disability Services.

The Paracourse, donated in the late ’80s, was made to be accessible to people using wheelchairs.

“Over the years, the material deteriorated,” Landrum said. “When it started getting toward the base of the wooden posts that went into the ground, we decided that it would probably be best to tear it down.”

A new Paracourse would cost about $90,000, Landrum said, and the project may last over a six-year period as the university adds to the Innovation Campus.