PIERCE COLLEGE : Funds Sought for Fitness Center

A fitness center will be established at Pierce College by the 1993 fall semester if the school can raise the $85,000 needed for its completion, said Donald Love, vice president of administration.

Love, who is in charge of the $150,000 project, said a large locker room in one of the physical education buildings will be refurbished to accommodate the center, which will be available to the public as well as to Pierce students and faculty.

He said he believes such a center “will be especially appealing to people working in offices adjacent to our college. They can work out in the morning, at lunch time, or after work.

“Everybody who comes in can enroll in one unit of credit, or pay a monthly fee of $5, versus $100 to $200 for memberships at fancy workout facilities,” Love said.

“This won’t be a fancy facility where people walk around to look at designer fitness uniforms, but a place where health and fitness is benefited. We’d like to prepare the entire person, both physically and mentally, when it comes to physical fitness and wellness.”

The center will feature an Aerobic Super Circuit training system, a scientific plan developed by Dr. Ken Cooper’s Institute of Aerobics Research in Dallas. In the circuit, participants move on cue between weight stations and aerobic exercise stations, in response to audible directions.

The college already has $100,000 worth of fitness equipment, part of which was purchased with funds from the school’s equipment budget, “But that was years ago, not recently,” Love said.

“The college’s funds have been cut badly,” he said.

Because of this, Love said he is looking for corporate donors for the $85,000.

A total of $65,000 already has been designated for the center, $20,000 from the college itself. Health Net donated $25,000 for the project and 20th Century insurance has given $20,000.