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Simons director proposes managing campus gymnasium, adding family changing rooms
Summary
Tracy Govan, director of the Simons Recreation Complex, presented a plan for Simons to manage the UW Platteville Richland gymnasium, provide 24/7 access to members and students, and add family changing rooms as part of a previously discussed addition; committee members asked questions and deferred detailed decisions.
Tracy Govan, director of the Simons Recreation Complex, told the committee Simons is exploring taking over management of the campus gymnasium and adding family changing rooms that had been part of earlier planning work.
Govan said the idea began during 2019 listening sessions, when residents and users identified "family changing rooms" as a priority because the facility currently has only men's and women's locker rooms and parents or caregivers face privacy challenges. She described an earlier proposal for an addition that would enclose the space between Simons and the campus gymnasium; under that plan the Simons lobby would become family changing rooms and a new enclosed lobby and multipurpose room would be added in the connecting space.
Why it matters: Simons managing the gym could expand public and student access, enable more programming (camps, workshops, pickup basketball, pickleball), and increase campus foot traffic. Govan said Simons members and college students could get key-fob access to the gym, allowing more flexible hours and different programming.
Govan said she does not yet have complete financial details on the cost of operating the gym for a full year and whether Simons can assume all bills. "I don't have a full type plan. I don't know," she said, noting she has seen only a few months of utility bills in the packet and lacks a full annual cost picture. She also said that campus rules currently make some types of activities (for example hosting larger tournaments) more difficult for the university to permit and that Simons might be more flexible in scheduling camps, workshops and temporary uses such as pickleball courts.
The committee asked clarifying questions: one member asked whether the family changing rooms would be located in the current Simons building lobby (Govan said yes—the current lobby would become family changing rooms and a new lobby would sit in the connecting addition). Members also discussed whether Simons would pay all bills if it assumed management; Govan said those details have not yet been finalized.
Next steps: the committee heard the presentation and said it would discuss the options further; no formal transfer or management agreement was approved at the meeting. Members asked campus and Simons staff to supply more detailed cost and operational information for future consideration.
