Students will not be the only ones seeing increasing fees to pay for new recreation renovations — Non-student users, including ISU faculty and staff, will also be paying the price.

Iowa State University’s newly remodeled Beyer Hall and State Gym recreation center is on the homestretch to recovery and scheduled to open this coming fall.

The gym, costing $52.8 million, has been funded from the increasing student activity fees over the last two years.

The increase will be implemented beginning in the summer term and will continue throughout the upcoming fall and spring semesters. However, students aren’t the only ones falling subject to this increase.

Non-student users, who consist mostly of faculty, retirees, alumni and their spouses, will also be subject to increases. Non-student users have been given lower alternate rates in the past and will now pay $322 for the academic year or $403 for the entire year [corrected from: the same fee that students are assessed].

“Since students are bearing the cost of the facilities upgrades, it is important that all other users share the cost as well,” said Michael Giles, director of recreation services.

Some students feel the new gym is worthy of the fee increase.

“To me the gym will be worth the fee,” said Nick McEachron, sophomore in pre-business. “I love playing pick-up basketball games but at the same time I hate playing on the track at the Rec. Having brand new hardwood floors will be amazing and make playing basketball much more enjoyable.”

Other students feel there should be an alternate option for students who choose not to use one or both of the gyms.

“I think there should be an option when paying tuition or on the U-bill that you could select to have a membership to none, one or both of the gyms,” said Tyler Carter, sophomore in pre-business.

The new gym will offer many of the same services as the Lied Recreation Center.

State Gym complex will more than double the recreation service’s inventory with its addition of new weight and cardio equipment.

State Gym will also feature a recreational swimming pool, two indoor jogging tracks, five basketball courts, a climbing wall, rooms for specialty programs such as pilates and yoga and even a new smoothie bar entitled “Froots.”

Many students are excited about the new and improved services the State Gym will have to offer.

“I’m personally really excited about the new State Gym,” McEachron said. “Mainly because it’s on the west side of campus and that’ll be nice instead of having to trek all the way to the other corner of campus.” 

Although the new gym has many things to offer, some students and faculty aren’t impressed.

“I’m not sure if the fee is worth it to every student at Iowa state especially if you have to pay for the old and new state gym, when most likely students will just use the closer of the two,” Carter said.

The location of the State Gym will now allow students to access the fitness services from both sides of campus. The current recreation center, Lied, is located on the east side of campus while the new State Gym is on the west side.

“I think it’ll be nice having two separate recreation facilities,” McEachron said. “The biggest benefit is the convenience of the location — having gyms on both sides of campus will be awesome in the winter so students don’t have to walk all the way over to the other one every time they want to use the recreation center. Also, Lied can get packed so having another one will help loosen congestion.” 

Also new to the State Gym will be the limited access. Similar to the entrance of the Lied Recreation Athletic Center, people wanting to enter the gym will be required to have their ISU card. This will ensure that the only people gaining entrance to the recreation centers are those who are bearing the costs.