Fitness Room Project

Background:

In 2019, Hesston College built a new 3,000 square foot weight room attached to Yost Center. This was in response to growing needs from the student body and a vision toward the future. The weight room prior to 2019 was located in a small space in the Campus Activities Center. The old space had very limited equipment to meet the evolving weight training and fitness needs of the student body.

The Yost Center weight room was a great addition for our students, and since its opening, has experienced growing demand for access and expanded equipment options. In 2024, the college launched a powerlifting team, creating more demands on that space. With athletic teams having priority access to the weight room, it is time to offer a different space to meet the fitness needs of our general student population.

New Project:

We want to develop a new space on campus to meet the general fitness needs of our students. Athletes have good access to the weight room; however, other students do not have sufficient access (available times) or the necessary equipment to meet their fitness needs.

We are in the process of consolidating our bookstore (essentially just apparel now) into Mary Miller Library in Smith Center. With this move, we free up some quality space in Erb Hall that we want to transform into a new student fitness space. This location has several key benefits beyond simple facility utilization. With this space being within our primary dorm, the increased accessibility to our students will provide a notable improvement.

Our plan is to renovate the existing bookstore space this summer, move certain cardio equipment into this new space from the weight room and purchase new equipment to furnish the rest of the space. We want to have the new HC Fitness Room ready for students by the time they arrive in August!