The changes in hours of operation have prompted some complaints from those who use the facilities, as well as concerns among employees who must deal with scheduling changes.
Operating hours have been reduced at a number of locations, including at the fitness center at Alumni Gym, according to Hugh Mellert, fitness programs coordinator and director of the fitness center.
Budget concerns forced the athletic department to reassess many of its operating decisions, ultimately leading to the decision to shave about two hours from each day of the fitness center's operations, above and beyond normal summer reductions, Mellert said. While the fitness center stays open until 11 p.m. during the school year, it will close at 7 p.m. during the week this summer. Summer hours used to call for its closing at 9 p.m.
"Summer hours are always less than regular term hours," Mellert said. "The athletic department was asked to reduce operating expenses in general, across the athletic department, and one way of doing that is to reduce the overall building hours. And that affects the fitness center."
Staff in the athletic department submitted "a number of alternatives" to department managers as potential ways to cut costs, Mellert said. The department spent several months reviewing the various options for cutting back, and considered the needs of many parties affected by scheduling changes including student facility use, as well as use among intercollegiate teams and high school camps from outside the College before making the final decision to cut facilities' hours, he said.
Department officials also had to consider what would be financially feasible for the department as a whole, he said, determining that an early closing for Alumni Gym would work best for all involved, which resulted in the closing of the fitness center.
"The tricky part is, we can't have the fitness center open without the building being open," Mellert said. "We would have liked to have stayed open until eight o'clock or nine o'clock, which may be more normal summer hours, but we're not able to do that because the entire building is closed."
For the first several days in which the new hours were implemented, employees heard complaints among patrons that the closing came too early, according to Caroline Ward '11, a student supervisor at the fitness center.
"When we close the gym at 7 p.m. you can definitely tell that people don't want to leave," Ward said.
The budget changes have also reduced the number of positions available for students seeking work at the fitness center, partly because of reduced hours but also because fewer students are placed on duty during each shift, she said. This tends to make it more difficult to manage operations effectively, she added.
Tom Martecchini '11 said that he is "not a huge fan" of the new hours, noting that he believes the summer schedule makes it difficult to go to the gym to exercise without considerable planning in advance.
"I'm someone who likes to work during the day and go later at night, so this inconveniences me," he said. "But, if I plan around it, it's not an issue."
Despite the reductions in the fitness center's hours, the department has not had to eliminate any of its summer fitness classes, Mellert said, although classes that usually ran later in the day now begin earlier to accommodate changes to the facility schedule.
This is partly because the program offerings traditionally are less extensive during the summer than during other terms when enrollment is higher, he said.
Work on the West Stands at Memorial Field has likewise been affected by budget concerns. Plans to replace the facility were scaled back to include only necessary maintenance as part of College-wide budget cuts, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Maintenance work on the stands remains on its original schedule and should be completed by early September, before the start of football season, according to Matt Purcell, associate director for construction at the College Office of Planning, Design and Construction.
The project involves sealing the concrete components of the stands, as well as repairing and repainting the steel supports beneath the structure's seating, Purcell said.
Most of the work is routine maintenance that should prolong the life of the facility for another five to seven years, he said, rather than a complete renovation.
