Visitors to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center may have noticed what appear to be dirty spots on the floor. However, the irksome spots are a menace that neither mop nor broom can solve.

The spots, which appear only on the custom blue colored floorboards, are actually deterioration caused by the ultraviolet light that enters through the windows. The flawed flooring was manufactured by Mondo America, Inc., the official supplier of athletic track, basketball and handball courts for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

When Joel Bluml, director of the SRWC, noticed the problem, he contacted the manufacturer, as well as the floor installer, to figure out why the problems were happening in the first place.

“Once we established it was a breakdown in the floor, Mondo has been very good to work with, as well as our flooring installment company, about helping us get the problem remedied,” said Bluml. “You have to be persistent because they’re not making money on this replacement. You have to just be diligent and stay with the process to make sure it gets done.”

As a solution to the problem, Bluml planned to have a new navy-colored floor installed during the summer. However, after getting word that the replacement floor had come off the assembly line defective, they decided to postpone the repairs until winter break.

“We could have gone forward and had them produce more floor, but there was no way I was going to start the year with the Rec. Center not available for use,” said Bluml. “So we just decided to put everything back until winter break and get it done then.”

The newest upgrade to the SRWC occurred last spring, with the addition of three new pieces of cardio: two octane cross-trainers/elliptical-trainers and another precoil elliptical that has both arm and leg functions. The Center is also considering adding additional equipment for strength training.

“We hope people will take a more proactive approach to managing a healthy lifestyle and hopefully we can help them do that,” said Bluml.

Bluml concluded that one of his main goals as director was to keep the SRWC looking as pristine as possible and that the renovation would be a positive move in achieving that goal.

“We definitely want to protect Washburn’s investment,” said Bluml. “This is a great facility, and as director I definitely take pride in trying to keep it looking as good as possible and keeping it a quality resource for Washburn.”