Renovation of the fitness area at UMSL's Mark Twain Athletic & Fitness Center is set to begin today and will be completed by June 1. (Artist's rendering of renovated fitness center)

Pretty soon, workouts at the University of Missouri–St. Louis are going to get a whole lot better. But first, there will be some inconvenience involved.

The renovation will begin today (Feb. 27) on the fitness area of the Mark Twain Athletic & Fitness Center Building at UMSL. The project will combine two workout areas into one providing a newly renovated, larger, more convenient space, according to Lori Flanagan, director of athletics.

“We’re bringing the free weights up from the basement, adding it to the existing fitness center space on the first floor and creating a much larger space for cardio, weight training and fitness,” Flanagan said.

New equipment is on order and officials expect it to be completed by June 1.

“In the interim we’ll do our best to accommodate workouts for our students, faculty and staff,” Flanagan said. “Our intent is to keep the track and a smaller version of the fitness center open. There may be some mornings, especially in the first two weeks during demolition, when we’ll have to close the track or a stairwell.”

Knoebel Construction, Inc. of St. Louis was chosen as contractor for the $700,000 project. In addition to the fitness center, construction also includes an athletic training room and office suite at the basement level and work on the mezzanine level of the gym. Construction work hours will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.