Weight Room Triples Capacity With New Renovation

The High school renovated weight room facility as part of a large scale school renovation; students, coaches, and athletic directors alike are pleased at receiving the long awaited facility.

Director of Business Services Mark Powell said, “[I] was involved in the overall discussion of the capital improvements that have taken place and the Weight Room was part [of] that.” The new weight room is a part of the ongoing renovations around the building rather than a specific remodeling.

Football coach and physical education teacher John Redders has “been waiting a long time for this to happen, it’s nice to see that the plan is actually taking action and going forward.” Redders believes that the community and the students have been anticipating this renovation for a while.

According to Redders, the current weight room can handle about 50 students at 11 stations taking turns. He finds it difficult to get 70 - 80 football athletes to use it at once; the new facility will allow him to bring the whole team. Athletic director Scott Helms claims the new weight room will triple the capacity of the old one.

In addition to tripling the size of the weight room itself, Helms said, “We also will have a multipurpose studio room that can be used by Phy Ed classes, athletic and dance teams, and staff. We also have a new training room that can be used during the winter seasons.” Redders hopes more students will utilize the new school facilities, especially girls.

These renovations of the facility come at a price tag of $438,270, according to Powell; however, the costs for the equipment remain to be finalized. Redders believes that this price tag is worth it, and everyone in the community agrees.

Senior Jordan Zainer said this decision shows that the school “Favor[s] the athlete.” He agrees with Redders that it is definitely worth the price tag and the renovation provides “lots of great new opportunities.”

Helms, along with the help of Redders and Phy Ed teacher Aaron Rusch selected the equipment and its arrangement. Helms chose the colors and the branding of HUHS. He also worked with Direct Fitness Supply and Athlete Performance LLC to develop the concept plan.

Helms brought in Athlete Performance Strength and Conditioning Trainer Steve Becker to work with Redders and Rusch on areas of improvements for our Strength and Speed program. These discussions lead to specific equipment choices that are being purchased for the student athletes. According to Redders, Rusch anticipated the future needs of the weight room as well and made sure to keep up with changing trends.

The inside of the new facility will include a full length mirror for the dance room and an upgraded audio visual system. The new audio-visual system will help Fit 4 Life and Yoga classes drastically and assist other classes. Redders also said, “With the new facility we can put the workouts directly onto the screen. Eliminates need for paper sheets.”

According to Slinger’s Associate Principal & Activities Director Mike Daniels Slinger’s weight room was a part of a $42 million referendum. Similar to HUHS’s renovations, it was a part of other renovations around the facility. Their weight room was renovated 3 years ago and has 9200 square feet. of space including a fitness center and an open training area.

Slinger’s weight room is available to all athletes. Students can pay a $25 fee to use the weight room. HUHS students and staff, regardless of whether they have paid the co curricular fee or not, will be able to use Harford’s weight room.

Unlike Slinger’s equipment, Hartford’s new equipment will have the Oriole logo. Redders thinks this new weight room facility will help further Hartford Union High School’s athletic program. Over the years Hartford’s athletic program has grown, with the football team’s season record of 11-1 and the Gymnastics team being state champions last year.

The new weight room will have 8400 square feet of space, compared to the 4400 sq ft of the old weight room. The 4400 sq footage of the old weight room was the amount of space allocated to the fitness facility, however, it was not optimally designed and had several different sections. The new weight room has better usage of space and position of equipment.

Instead of adding more types of equipment, Redders finds that the pre existing equipment was working fine for decades. The facility will mostly have larger quantities of and new models of existing exercise equipment. This includes bench presses, squats, ellipticals, and bikes.

Helms hopes the new facility will accomplish several things the old weight room was lacking. Helms hopes to provide areas for cardio and fitness equipment, enough space for several groups, and a place for classes or teams to meet and hold practice or class and complete video/group workouts.

The new weight room is planned to open in early November. Helms is hoping that this renovation encourages more students and staff to improve or maintain their physical well being.