In July I uploaded an entry about how the new Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC) was almost completed at Monmouth University. Since I was on campus yesterday doing some last minute paperwork before the new semester starts, I stopped by the new MAC building and it is really amazing. First of all, the building is gigantic – much bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Part of this visual illusion is due to a portion of the building being located behind the existing Boylan Gymnasium. However, once you are inside of the building you’re able to walk around the entire perimeter (which I did not do, but was told so by a fellow employee).

The new bookstore is very nice and if I’m not mistaken it looks like there are now runners to grab the students’ books. That’s what a lot of the bigger bookstores at the bigger campuses have been doing for a while and it’s nice to see Monmouth making that improvement to their system. I walked down to the new fitness center and it was very impressive. For those of you who live in the area – the floor space in the new fitness center is comparable to the first floor space of the workout area in the Gold’s Gym on the beach in Long Branch. The walls are all still white and bare, but I’m sure that they have some plan to doll the place up a bit.

Outside of the MAC building is a different story, though. A gigantic portion of the commuter lot is in the process of being paved over, so I hope that the paving is complete in time for the Freshman and upper class move-ins. If not, it could get pretty messy…

All in all, I was very impressed with the new MAC building. The introduction of this building along with the still relatively new Plangere Center and McAllen Hall position Monmouth, I think, with a much more academic and student-friendly atmosphere than it has been in the past.

Then in May 2005, they closed the pool for “renovations” that would be completed in “a few months” and definitely before Summer 2005 ended. Come June 2006 (a full year and a month later) and not only was the pool not finished, but the entire interior looked like hell because they undertook a bunch of renovations that they just couldn’t afford to complete. Oh…and they didn’t lower our membership rates due to decreased equipment available or the horrible conditions in the club.

So I left and went to Gold’s Gym. It cost more and they have no pool, but the interior is brand new and the atmosphere is great.

When this e-mail came in, I actually entertained flipping back to the old gym. This is the gym where there are a ton of weirdos and dirty, creepy old men. However, they have that pool and the pool is what really helped me shed the weight (I’ve actually stopped losing weight since the pool closed and I’ve gained a few pounds since then – just a few, though).

So I made a phone call and spoke to the folks over at the old gym and they were excited about the pool being open again. They told me about all of the great renovations that were being planned and how the gym would be a world class place when it was all done and over with and, honestly, they got me psyched to go back to them! Then I remembered…they’re not that good at completing renovations projects.

I guess that I WILL go back to the old gym in the next year or two, but I’m probably going to wait until they finish their renovations. I don’t see the point in giving them a full gym membership rate and not getting a full gym to be a member of, you know?