Fitness Center Opens at Piano Row

Ron Smithers and Jen Boyden ’07 have witnessed firsthand the evolution of the College’s Fitness Center, which recently opened in its newest location in Piano Row. As associate athletics director in the Athletics Department, Smithers manages the Fitness Center and also oversees sport performance for half of the student varsity teams. 

Smithers was hired to manage the Fitness Center general manager in August 2009 and was the center’s first full-time staff member. At that time, the Fitness Center was located in the basement of the Little Building. He spent about eight years there before the Fitness Center moved off campus to 52 Summer Street because of the Little Building renovations. Soon after the Fitness Center moved to Summer Street, however, plans for its next move to a central campus location were put in the works. 

Boyden is an assistant athletics director in the Athletics Department, supporting Smithers at the Fitness Center and also helping with student sport performance. Having graduated from Emerson with a BFA in Creative Writing, she recalls working out in the Little Building’s basement as a student-athlete on the Softball team. She also mentioned that student membership was not free at the time, so the Fitness Center was not fully utilized by students. She came back to Emerson in 2017 to become the assistant director of the Fitness Center.

Smithers, Boyden, and Will Baldwin, the Athletics Department’s fitness and recreation coordinator, worked closely with colleagues from Athletics and Campus Life, Facilities, and IT to move the Fitness Center to the street level and lower level of Piano Row. Over a period of about six years, the new space was designed and constructed, and all new equipment was chosen, purchased, and installed. Additionally, a bit of “musical chairs” took place as the departments that had been located on the street level and lower level had to be relocated to other buildings. 

Smithers managed the logistics of the transition to Piano Row, keeping in communication with all of the other departments involved in the effort. Boyden and Baldwin completed a needs analysis and decided which equipment to purchase. 

Once the equipment was in place, Smithers, Boyden, and Baldwin made some changes to the layout in order to improve the flow and efficiency for members. They also took into account the fact that two populations use the center: the general community and the student-athletes. Subsequently, some machines were placed on both floors, in case one population would be more comfortable on a particular floor. 

The equipment in the new center is top of the line. The street level has 10 half-racks, 4 non-motorized sprint treadmills, dumbbells, a leg press, a hack squat, a Smith machine, and a multi-cable station. On the lower level, there are 22 strength machines, 11 treadmills, 7 indoor cycling bikes, 5 ellipticals, 5 air bikes, 4 stepmills, a Smith machine, and a studio with dumbbells.

Four locker rooms are available for users: two gender-neutral ones, and one each for men and women. 

As far as next steps for the Fitness Center, the staff would like to offer periodic educational classes and workshops, as the fitness field is always evolving. Smithers noted that there is a lot of misinformation about fitness on social media and the internet, so he and his team are very interested in providing scientific, evidence-based information to the community. The team would also like to offer some group classes in the future, if certified staff and students are interested in teaching classes. 

The Fitness Center team is excited for staff to use the Fitness Center, now that it has a prime location in the center of campus. Smithers noted that he and his colleagues have a total of 30 to 40 years of experience in the field. They are often on the floor, available to answer questions that members might have. There are also 19 work-study students who have been trained to set up all of the machines and show members how to use them. The only thing that staff need to do in order to use the Fitness Center is fill out an enrollment waiver form. 

Smithers recommends that staff who are interested in using the Fitness Center make it a habit, and schedule it so it becomes part of their routine. “Put intentionality behind it,” he said. Boyden encourages staff to use the Fitness Center as an excuse to be more social in the community; colleagues can make a plan to work out together after work or during the lunch hour. She repeated the exercise adage that it’s easy to cancel a solo workout, but it’s harder to cancel when you have a workout buddy. “Having accountability to other people always helps,” she advised.

Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)