The Lawrence Ryan Fitness Pavilion officially opened its doors to the PLNU community on Friday, Sept. 4. First announced on May 7, 2025, in an email sent out by Jeff Bolster, vice president for University Services, he announced this facility would replace the weight shed located on the west side of the track.
The construction of this facility began on Feb. 11, 2026 and was concluded in August. Bolster wrote that this fitness pavilion is 1,500 square feet of “secure indoor and outdoor workout space.”
Personally, I had used the previous weight shed a solid two times during my freshman year, so when I went to the fitness pavilion for the first time, I was expecting beneficial changes — and the wait did bring those changes, along with some downsides.
I walked down with three of my roommates at 8:40 on a Thursday night, and was shocked to find the amount of students working out at the hour. Even as a group of them left to head to Time Out Chapel, all machines were still in use and benches were still taken up with others doing leg and arm workouts.
With the machines being in use, we used the outdoor area, a 3,400-square-foot multipurpose section of turf. We grabbed dumbbells, and a medicine ball and began a simple arm and ab workout.
Students now have a clearer walkway, with bushes out of the way and the pathway cleared due to the expansion of the outdoor landscape along the front of the track. The walk feels safer, and the openness of the new facility gives a feeling of welcoming for not only myself, but the general student population, as mentioned by Angelica Vasquez, third-year psychology major, and Nina Heiser, a third-year child development major.
Not only the design of the building and outdoor space, but the overall execution of the center shows the hard work put in over three years in a partnership between the Ryan Family Foundation, ASB Student Senate, Kinesiology, Intramurals and ResLife, according to an email sent out by Jeff Bolster on May 7, 2025.
There is also a co-ed bathroom located on the left side of the building closest to the track, which I think is the best part of the upgrade. Sure, I could walk slightly up the hill to my apartment bathroom, but the proximity of this new addition is a pro in a complete overview of the pavilion.
But not everyone does arm machines or dumbbells every day — and no one should when taking into consideration the muscle injuries that could occur. If there could be the implementation of other machines, such as leg machines, treadmills or stair masters, this would allow for a wider variety of workouts possible and greater usage. As of right now, it remains a sort of glorified weight shed.
With the inconvenient Golden Gym hours, the machines only being open for students to use past 11:00 a.m., the fitness pavilion opening times of Monday through Friday at 7:00 a.m. would work better for students to get their work out done early before their classes.
As for the pavilion’s opening and closing hours as a whole, the use of a scan-in system could be another improvement introduced. With students having class, clinicals, or work, college students often go to the gym early in the morning or late at night. Especially with the weekends and how limiting the time options are — Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. — we should be able to scan into the center. We are grown adults who know how to take care of the equipment, and there could be a security camera or two put up around the area as extra precaution.
With there only being weight machines and different types of strength training equipment, it was a surprise for me to see that there were no mirrors in front of these machines. With many, such as myself, liking to check form, I feel we should add this feature inside the pavilion.
I felt that overall, despite the cons, the new fitness pavilion is an upgrade from the previous weight shed, and with these improvements it could become an even more beneficial space for students to work on their mental and physical wellbeing in the midst of busy class schedules.
Whether it was the company I was with or the actual workout, I felt my mood had boosted by the end of it.
