The Casa Loma gymnasium took a timeout for some above-par renovations that will truly set it apart from gymnasiums province-wide for years to come, said Gerard Hayes, director of student experience at George Brown College.

The Casa Loma gym is primarily for student athletes and staff, and in order to meet everyone’s needs, George Brown College had to consult with each group at length.Every year the school measures student satisfaction, responding to the needs and requests of students, which helped inform them of the importance of building a more modern athletic facility, according to Hayes.

“If you’re an older user of the gym or someone who is walking into the Casa Loma campus for the first time, you’d say ‘wow!’ You wouldn’t believe that we can do what we did with that space to get it modern,” said Hayes.

“All the latest equipment will go in there, all the latest flooring. You’re going to see TVs up in the fitness room. It’s simply going to be a modern space.” With the new full-regulation-sized gym at the Casa Loma campus, activities can be done that were not possible before, he added.

No discussion has taken place regarding the name of the new gym. “We leave that with our foundation,” said Hayes.

Last year students campaigned for the new gym to be named after Albert DaSilva, a long-time athletics staff member at the college. Almost 400 people signed a petition in support of calling on the college to name it the Albert DaSilva Athletic Centre.

“They are in the process of naming the residences and a few other places, but the foundation does all of our outreach for naming donors and naming opportunities,” said Hayes.

Some of the major changes to the over 30-year-old centre include: installation of new flooring, improved equipment, state-of-the-art scoreboards and newer more attractive washroom facilities.

“The flooring in the fitness centre is all the latest technology. The carpet that we used and the flooring is all green technology,” said Hayes, adding that George Brown is becoming more conscious about energy efficiency. “I think we’ve nailed it because it’s going to be absolutely beautiful to look at, but it’s also going to be very practical for users as well.”