By Kelly Morgan (Whetstone staff writer)

The Whetstone/Rachael Nissim

It’s almost ready.

The ribbon cutting of the renovated Malmberg gym will take place three days after it first comes available to students on Feb. 1.

To prepare, the gym remained close to students during the day.

“Up until Jan. 26, nothing will open until 3:30 p.m. because we are getting a lot of stuff done in the morning,” said SGA vice president Bryan Zarou.

Between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1, the gym will be closed completely so that the new floor can be laid down, he said. “After that, we’ll get the equipment in there.”

Tanner Polce, SGA president, said he was excited about the new equipment because it will appeal to a wider range of students.

“When we went through the competitors, we wanted quality materials,” he said. “We didn’t want anything intimidating to a person like myself who is a bit smaller and to females.”

Polce said the SGA tried to include everyone on campus, not just athletes, in the decision.

About a dozen new pieces were ordered for the weight room, along with three tread mills, two bikes and two elliptical machines.

All came from GymSource.

“Some [of the old equipment] is getting donated to the athletic department,” Zarou said. “If the athletic department doesn’t take it, it’ll be thrown out.”

They are also looking to donate other parts to a local middle school and the Dover Air Force Base, Polce said.

“People say the treadmills are really nice, but they’re outdated,” Polce said. “Once it breaks, there’s no way to fix it. If we find room for four treadmills, we might keep one of the Star Trac treadmills until it breaks.”

As more space becomes available, more equipment will be ordered, he said.

Intramural Sports is assisting the SGA in setting up staff for the gym.

By having staff in the gym, rules and procedures will be followed and there will more up-keep of the new equipment, Polce said.