This post was updated Nov. 1 at 7:15 p.m.
UCLA officials announced a new location for the Kinross Recreation Center on Tuesday.
UCLA will build the new fitness center in the northwest end of Parking Lot 36, by Veteran Avenue and Kinross Avenue, said Michael Deluca, assistant vice chancellor of campus life, and Wendy Windsor, director of UCLA Recreation, in an email to graduate students.
Deluca also said the current KREC, located a few hundred feet away from the proposed site, will close Dec. 16, and the new center is expected to open early summer 2017.
Officials are relocating KREC to accommodate the Geffen Academy at UCLA, a secondary school for Los Angeles area students and children of UCLA faculty and staff. The academy is scheduled to open fall 2017.
In the time between when the current KREC location closes and a new one opens, UCLA Recreation will offer expanded exercise and fitness options for graduate students, Deluca added.
Graduate students will have 24-hour access to the John Wooden Center from Monday through Thursday and access to the Bruin Fitness Center in Carnesale Commons, which was previously limited to undergraduates only. Additionally, Deluca said UCLA will provide complimentary passes for group fitness classes throughout winter and spring quarters.
UCLA will also introduce low impact exercise and activity classes in Weyburn Commons and finalize an agreement with a Westwood fitness center near KREC where students can opt in to monthly access at no additional cost.
Michael Skiles, Graduate Students Association president, said in July that a new gym for graduate students would open before the current KREC closes. UCLA consulted with the GSA, graduate student focus groups and GSA members to come up with alternative fitness options, Deluca said in the email.
Some graduate students said that, even with expanded fitness options, it is inconvenient for them to take advantage of the services.
Tommy Tang, a graduate student who uses KREC, said he thinks the gym’s six-month closure will be difficult to manage.
“I live on the other side of Wilshire and the Wooden center is too far,” Tang said. “Plus, the Big Blue Bus stops routes early, which is inconvenient for me.”
Tang added he was unaware KREC will close in December.
Isabel Guerrero, another graduate student who uses KREC, said she was aware of KREC closing and that UCLA is giving graduate students access to the Bruin Fitness Center. But she said she thinks the Bruin Fitness Center is too far for many graduate students.
“UCLA should make gyms in the student housing because it will give better access for students with families and other students with different circumstances or disabilities,” Guerrero added.
Interested students can visit the KREC relocation website for updates on construction and view project renderings.
Contributing reports from Helen Immerso, Daily Bruin contributor.
It took nearly two years for KREC to be built out after the old Fit Center South closed, finally opening a year after its anticipated completion date. Thus, I really wouldn’t expect to see this new facility open “early summer 2017″…possibly September when the new school starts, but most likely much later.
Besides being a huge inconvenience to grad students, alumni such as myself are also KREC members. I knew a new facility wouldn’t be open before KREC closed, but I was hoping for the best. Because the interim options are inconvenient for me, I’ll be finding a new gym in January and requesting a refund for the months remaining on my annual membership. After 24 years (Fit Center South + KREC), it’s a shame I have to go elsewhere. Perhaps I’ll return when the new facility eventually opens, but I won’t be waiting around for them to finish.