Faculty and staff at the UNM Health Sciences Center and School of Medicine expressed relief Monday after hospital administration dropped - for now - plans to close a small gymnasium to make way for office space.
"I think they made the right decision," said Marie Chestnut, a School of Medicine medical facility services representative and gym user. "I think a lot more people used the gym than they had originally assessed."
The gym, which is tucked away in the basement of the Biomedical Research Facility, features free and stack weights, exercise bikes, treadmills, a stair stepping device and other fitness equipment. It is about the size of two small classrooms. Everyone from doctors to custodians use the gym, said Kim Spits, a senior research technician at the adjacent Cancer Research Facility.
"Every time I've been here, there have been at least two people working out," she said, adding that many use the gym during lunch hours, a time that makes using Johnson Gym, UNM's main campus fitness facility, inconvenient.
"I wouldn't be able to work out easily during the week anymore," she said. "You really can't do that at Johnson."
A sign announcing its impending closure appeared on the door at the beginning of the semester, causing an uproar from people who work on North Campus and use the gym.
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"The School of Medicine has been very successful in the last few years, and continues to grow to the point of limitations on space," the sign read in part. The space was slated to be used for offices or laboratories, said Mary Kenney, a member of the School of Medicine's Space Allocation Committee.
"At this time, the School of Medicine has a significant need to increase dry lab and wet lab spaces, as well as clinical office spaces," she said.
Response from the gym's users was deafening.
"As a 'Health Sciences' Center, we should be concerned about the health, well-being and morale of faculty, staff and students," Dr. Kurt B. Nolte, of the Office of the Medical Investigator, wrote in an e-mail to hospital and School of Medicine administration. "An on-site exercise facility promotes healthy personnel. I exercise just one half hour per day. If I had to travel to Johnson Gym, it would double the time I needed for regular exercise."
Spitz, who has used the gym for two and a half years, put up a petition at the gym, eventually collecting nearly 200 signatures, each with an estimate of the amount of time spent weekly using the gym.
"It's not Defined Fitness or anything, but a lot of people use it," she said.
During a Monday meeting, the space committee decided to defer the closure, partly in response to the backlash from gym users.
"The people have made their needs known, and the committee has listened," said Pug Burge, committee chairwoman and executive director of administration and operations at the School of Medicine. "For the time being, we are not going to be looking at closing the exercise facility - we'll look for some other options. It doesn't mean we have all the space in the world we would like, but we are willing to listen."
Kenney said the space committee would explore other options, but could not guarantee the gym's respite in the long term.
The gym, along with the cafeteria, library and other student facilities, will eventually be consolidated into a new School of Medicine facility building currently in the planning stages, she said.
