As of April 3, the Nelson Fitness Center will remain open until 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, a 30 minute extension from the previous closing time of 10:30 p.m. The change will remain in effect for the remainder of the semester, Deputy Athletics Director for Administration Jake Silverman wrote in an email to The Herald.
According to Undergraduate Council of Students President Ricky Zhong ’23, students with classes or meetings at night may find it challenging to go to the Nelson afterward since their time could be cut short by the center’s closing.
“Lots of clubs have meetings around 7 to 9 p.m.,” he said. “And if (students) only get to work out for a little bit after that, it’s not really optimal.”
Nicholas Vadasz ’24, who is in the Brown University Orchestra, said that he “traditionally has practices from 6 to either 9 or 10 p.m., and if (he) gets out of rehearsal at 9:45 or 10 p.m., going to the gym really isn’t an option.”
The change will “definitely make me open to going a bit later in the afternoon or in the night,” Vadasz added.
The increased hours, Zhong said, will hopefully accommodate students who prefer to go to the gym at night while reducing congestion.
According to Silverman, the Nelson’s recreation staff has worked hard to make the adjustment. “Our strategic goal that guides our work every day is to make Brown recreational facilities and programming as accessible as possible and remove barriers to entry to promote physical wellness on Brown University's campus,” he wrote.
Zhong first reached out to administrators about an hours extension in mid-February. “They were really receptive, and within a week, they came to us with a pilot,” he said.
During the following weeks, Zhong collected data on two occupancy metrics at the Nelson: fitness center headcounts and official swipe-in numbers.
He noticed the swipe-in numbers were often lower than the center headcounts. Zhong believes that this was likely due to the Nelson system automatically marking students’ departure — since there is no “swiping out” — even when they might still be in the facilities. He also thinks that the Nelson’s systems likely underestimated the congestion during peak gym hours.
According to Zhong, the combination of these factors creates “a compelling case for (an) extension to midnight” in future semesters, adding that he and other UCS members are working to further extend gym hours in the future.
“We will use this time to track usage trends to determine if this expansion reached its desired impact and if additional changes should be considered,” Silverman wrote.
Dev Patel ’26 said that he pushed back his gym schedule in response to the Nelson extending its hours and would do the same again if opening hours were extended to midnight in the future.
Both Vadasz and Patel said that the Nelson could get quite busy an hour or two before closing. “There’s definitely been some days where (I have) waited 20 minutes for one machine,” Patel said.
Zhong explained that the change is currently in its pilot phase, meaning it has not been finalized. “We’re pretty optimistic that it’s going to become permanent, though,” he added.
Zhong also added that the Nelson’s exercise bike room might be cleared out and converted into a free-weight section. The bikes could then be moved to the Keeney Quadrangle gym, which is currently primarily used for yoga.
Kelvin Jiang is a section editor for University News and Science & Research at The Herald. Born in Illinois and raised in Palo Alto, CA, Kelvin is concentrating in math-computer science and applied math. He enjoys anything tech-related, being outdoors, and spending time with his cat.
