Mens’ sauna: a follow-up

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Still broken... now with a timeline/ Eugon Nosko

Still broken… now with a timeline/ Eugon Nosko

Progress made in male sauna, while questions on the female one pop up

Regular use of a sauna is said to positively affect symptoms of depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis, in addition to reducing the activity of stress hormones. While male Health and Fitness Centre users do not have a new sauna yet, the ball has finally begun rolling in their favour.

Alex Buehler of Campus Planning and Design spoke with us in Nov., 2014, at which point the sauna project had just began and was due to be finished early in the year.

“The project schedule is not yet finalized. We are currently working on the following preliminary time line: completion of the construction drawings and then getting pricing through a formal tender process will take us to the end of December. If pricing comes in within budget, we are expecting to start construction sometime early in the new year.”

Male students hoping to use the sauna at some point in the future are in luck this week. As we reported last November, the mens’ sauna at the University of Regina’s health and fitness centre has been out of order since last summer. The sauna is to be renovated into a steam sauna, rather than a dry sauna as it currently is.

Speaking with Project Manager Darrell Agopsowicz, it seems as though the renovations are finally starting to materialize in the mens’ room.

“Drawings have been completed and we are out for tenders, which closes Tuesday. Once we evaluate the prices and compare to our budget, we will start almost immediately. Most likely we will be done eight-to-twelve weeks after we begin. Part of it is the delivery of some of the items – the tile being used apparently has a six-to-eight week delivery time.”

Where there was no budget or concrete timeframe when we last reported on the sauna, according to Agopsowicz the well-past-due renovation is budgeted to cost up to $75,000.

“We have been having nothing but problems with the original saunas. This is the third time we have replaced wood in the sauna since I’ve been here. ‘Do we really want to do this again?’ We ended up going with the steam option as it has less maintenance costs.”

While the ladies’ sauna does not have any renovations scheduled, patrons should note that it will happen some time in the near future.

“At this point, we are just addressing the immediate need – that is the mens’ which had the issues. Most likely the ladies’ sauna will be renovated, too. I do think it would be well-served if we switched to steam and they would be interested.”

Students, community members, and professors hoping to relax in the sauna and relieve some stress in advance of fall semester will have to wait a few more months before this can be realized. Female participants will have to wait until their sauna is as inoperable as the mens’ was before it will be shut d

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