Plans for new graduate student gym and student lounge in Kinross Building move forward
By Gordon Murray
Jan. 21, 2011 1:35 a.m.
For years, UCLA Recreation has sought to build a gym in Westwood where graduate students could go to work out.
A plan was made to build such a facility in the Kinross Building, which was occupied by university police as a temporary home while their permanent building near the medical center was being constructed.
The new police building was completed in spring, and UCLA Recreation hoped to move into the Kinross Building by Jan. 1 of this year.
But because of a snag, construction of this new facility has been delayed until March.
Around late spring, the UCLA Medical Center requested to use the Kinross Building to house a new rehabilitation center. UCLA Recreation could not build a gym in the same location because it would not have met medical center standards, said UCLA Recreation Director of Cultural and Recreational Affairs Mick Deluca.
UCLA Recreation solved the problem by giving another building on Veteran Avenue to the medical center for the rehabilitation center, and plans for the Kinross Building have again moved forward.
Once completed, UCLA Recreation hopes to offer a gym and as well as a graduate student lounge.
Deluca said the driving force behind the project is the desire to give graduate students a place to socialize with their peers and the need for a gym other than the Wooden Center for students to use.
“The Wooden Center is fantastic, but (it is) at capacity,” Deluca said.
Ryan Roberts, chair of the John Wooden Center Board of Governors, said he agrees it is important to have recreational facilities for graduate students.
“UCLA is one of the smallest universities by acreage, and any time students get more space is a good thing,” he said.
The plans for the new Kinross center were finalized late last year, and bidding began in early January. Despite the change in plans, there will be no additional costs to students, Deluca said.
Associated Students UCLA will also provide a small food service operation in the Kinross center, said Bob Williams, ASUCLA executive director.
