While the University moves ahead with the new Multipurpose center, students are noticing an increase in broken gym equipment at the existing facility.

Sophomore Cameron Clark is a campus recreation maintenance technician. The machines may seem perpetually broken, but the process to fix them is long, he said.

“There’s been three or four complex machines that went down this semester,” he said.

Gregg Bates, director of Campus Recreation, said the uptick in broken equipment is part of the cycle of the gym facilities.

“We’re up to three to five machines broken and we’re constantly fixing equipment,” Bates said. “But the feeling is that there’s no more damage this year than in years past.”

Clark speculates that these upticks in servicing are likely coincidental, but said shifting focus onto the new $95 million Multipurpose center may affect the current facility.

“It’s purely coincidence that there’s a few more [broken machines], but it makes sense if they don’t want to dump a lot of money into it if it’s about to be replaced,” Clark said.

The funding of the two facilities are not related, Bates said.

First-year Dylan Streb said he thinks the gym seems understaffed this semester.

“At the beginning of the year, there was always someone at the desks greeting you,” he said. “Now there’s always people missing.”

Last semester, Clark was offered additional work hours at the gym but the proposal was retracted this semester, he said.

“My boss offered me as many extra hours as I wanted, and then took back that offer this semester I think because of a funding problem,” he said.

Bates asserts that any noticeable changes are not the result of administrative action.

“There has been no changing to our staffing model. We have the same amount of shifts,” Bates said.