HPER to close 1 of 2 Women's locker rooms

Women who use the exercise facilities at the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building will all use the same locker room starting Aug. 11, as the locker room located adjacent to the basketball courts -- one of two currently open for women -- will close for remodeling. The women's locker room remaining open is located in the HPER's basement, near the swimming pool.\nHPER Director of Program Services and Facilities Larry Patrick said the closing locker room is being renovated to support HPER technology support services, a project which he predicts will be completed in January.\nThe men's locker room on the same level as the closing women's is being closed as well, although two men's locker rooms will remain open while construction occurs.\nPatrick said this change should not create a problem, as the number of rented lockers in the rooms for women has substantially decreased the past few years, noting only 14 of 1,090 lockers available for women were rented this summer. Meanwhile, Patrick said "at least a third" of the men's 1,053 available lockers were rented.\n"Men use locker rooms more than women," Patrick said.\nThe women's locker room in the basement offers substantial locker and shower space, but is not currently accessible for people with disabilities who use wheelchairs or canes, said Director of Disability Services for Students Martha Jacques after an unofficial assessment of the space.\nCurrently the entrance doors have no way to be held back and there is no sink or bathroom stall in which a wheelchair could fit. In addition, the shower heads are too high to be accessible for a person in a wheelchair, Jacques said.\nStill, Patrick said orders to the IU Physical Plant have been made to change those items so the locker room is better equipped for people with disabilities. He said he's "hopeful" they will come in the next two months and that the changes will be made by the end of September, but he said the physical plant operates in an unpredictable way.\n"They could come today, tomorrow or six months from now," he said.\nAccess to the women's locker room that will stay open is currently available for everyone, as there is a handicap entrance on the west side of the first floor of the building and an elevator on the first floor that takes occupants to the basement.\nPatrick said using the locker room as the location for technology support services is necessary, as its current room is "way overcrowded"