University of Michigan's Temporary Recreation Facility at Palmer Field
ANN ARBOR, MI – Some call it The Tent. Some call it The Bubble. Some combine the two names and call it The Tubble.
All the nicknames apply to the white-tarped facility in the middle of Palmer Field on the University of Michigan’s Central Campus. It’s official name is the Temporary Recreation Facility at Palmer Field.
Set to open within two weeks, the facility offers workout opportunities for UM students while the $165-million replacement for the Central Campus Recreation Building is under construction through 2025.
Read more: You can work out here when demolition starts at old University of Michigan student gym
The temporary gym at 401 Washtenaw Ave. in Ann Arbor atop Palmer Field, focuses on strength and cardio opportunities for students over the basketball, swimming and other activities that were available at the old CCRB, said Mike Widen, UM’s director of recreational sports.
“Cardio, strength, a small track for walking and jogging — these are the most popular activities among students,” he said.
The UM Board of Regents approved $9.5 million in March to fund propping up the temporary facility. While offering less activities than the old CCRB, the new gym has a better layout for strength and cardio equipment, Widen said.
“I think students are going to come in here and love it compared to the low ceilings and dark spaces in the CCRB previously,” he said. “Equipment was really jammed together there. Now we’re gonna have a space that’s open. You can space out the equipment a little bit.”
Two strength-focused areas feature a couple rows of “selectorized” weight-lifting equipment, where a pin selects how heavy the exercise is, as well as a free weight area that holds dumbbells and weight racks. The free weight area is surrounded by a walking or jogging track that spans one-sixteenth of a mile for every lap.
Another area houses multiple rows of cardio equipment, from elliptical machines to rowers to treadmills to a handful of other options, such as an arm-bike machine. There are six televisions for those exercising to watch sports, news or bulletins from the UM Recreational Sports team.
Lastly, there is a multi-purpose room for group classes, from spin to Zumba to yoga to personal training and more, Widen said. All the classes available at the old CCRB will be available at the temporary facility, only the volume of classes will be less, he said.
“We also do classes at our other two facilities, the (North Campus Recreation Building) and the (Intramural Sports Building on South Campus),” he said. “We’re maximizing the spaces we have at those two facilities, not just for group activities, but also for gymnasium courts and tracks and pools, plus cardio and strength.”
Climate control features will keep students warm the winter and cool in the hot summer months, Widen said. There also are men’s, women’s and gender-neutral showers and bathrooms.
There still are a few items for UM officials to address before the facility is ready to open, Widen said, including testing the drinking water and plumbing. Also, officials will put up signage around Palmer Field and the nearby buildings to direct students to the facility’s single entrance on the northwest side of the field near Zina Pitcher Place.
However, the space could be ready to open as soon as late the week of Jan. 9, Widen said.
As far as the nickname for the space, it will come in time, he said.
“As long as it’s it’s a good experience for students and our recreation sports members, that’s what care about,” Widen said.
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See inside the temporary student gym at the University of Michigan – MLive.com
