Students often take the summer off of study and workout, but the Heskett Center is active with summer renovations.

While a bulk of the work is an update to the outside bricks of the facility, there will also be new facility features for members to use in the fall semester.

One such feature is the transformation of unused racquetball courts into a spin studio.

Eleven spin bikes and a spin class are being added to the Shocker Fitness Program. With one bike always reserved for the instructor, up to ten students can be accommodated per class.

“We anticipate between two to three classes a day,” said Eric Maki, director of the Heskett Center. “We’ll be limited in that we’ll only be having ten bikes…The first ten (people) that show up will be the ones that get into the class.”

Sports can caught on as hot trends and quickly die out. The Heskett Center staff constantly observe equipment and facility usage to adjust to members’ interest.

“When the building was built in the 80’s, racket ball was really famous, so that’s why you see so many courts,” said Jose Vidal, assistant director of facilities and membership.

Vidal has studied many facilities new and old to compare them with the Heskett Center. Newer facilities generally only have two to three racquetball courts due to declining popularity.

Some Heskett racquetball courts have already begun conversion due to lack of use. Three of the eight have already been modified. One is now a squash court, another a circuit room equipment, and the last will be a wallyball court, or racquetball with volleyball twist.

Maki said that usage determines the level of marketing needed to promote an activity. If marketing hasn’t increased usage enough, the space is eventually transitioned into a more popular sport facility.

The cardio room will also see updates. Old treadmills will be replaced by new Woodway treadmills fitted with personal viewing screens.

The floor will also be renovated, upgrading from a classroom floor to material better suited for an athletic facility.

The Heskett Center Play Field is changing locations due in part to expansion of a parking lot. The Play Field will be moved to a multiplex, which will also offer better accommodation for intramurals.

Maki said that he expects the renovations do be done by mid-August to be available use this fall semester.