Bexley citizens can pay a membership to use the Capital Center throughout the year.
At the start of every year, there’s always this fitness craze that sweeps the nation as people try desperately to commit to New Year resolutions on staying healthy.
It often doesn’t turn out well, but that doesn’t stop people from going out and trying to find a gym that can cater to their needs.
Turns out that Capital might be a reasonable prospect for those looking for a new gym membership.
Capital offering gym services to the public is not a recent addition to the university but has actually been around for quite some time.
“As far as I know, there have been memberships available for purchase by Bexley residents since the building opened in 2001,” Dustin Rudegeair, assistant athletic director, said.
Rudegeair’s main responsibility is to look over the Capital Center, and membership services falls under that.
“It is common for schools similar to ours to offer community members access to athletic/recreational facilities in some capacity,” Rudegeair said. “While I am only in my third year at Capital, I would assume that public relations is a primary reason for that decision.”
The price of individual access is $100, while the price for a family is $200. These are the upfront costs for one year, which is the only payment plan at the moment. People can pay with cash or check.
To compare prices with other athletic facilities around the city, the YMCA in Reynoldsburg, OH has family rates that go up to nearly $700 a year. For instance, according to information found through the official YMCA website, two adults and kids would cost $689.99 annually.
According to Rudegeair, the revenue doesn’t get put back into the athletics department but is put into a general university fund and is allocated from there.
“It goes into a general university fund,” Rudegeair said. “Athletics does not keep the membership revenue.”
The facilities can be accessed Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. during the academic year. There are no hours restrictions on weekends and breaks.
People can use a variety of locations including the field house, cardio area, weight room, and outdoor track and turf. Granted, there’s certain equipment in the field house that cannot be used, such as the track hurdles, pits, and batting cages.
Even though the athletic facilities have been accessible to the public for quite some time, there’s actually not too many people that are partaking in the services.
“Without counting specifically how many memberships are currently active, I think somewhere between 20 and 30 people,” Rudegeair said.
