Saville Community Sports Centre — Attraction in University of Alberta South Campus

I've gone to the Saville Centre fitness room since about 2001. I usually go in the early evening and find the gym not crowded, especially after the newer Hanson Fitness Centre on the north UofA campus opened. Monday evenings seem to be generally the most busy in my experience with Friday nights being very quiet. Summers are quieter. Instructor led groups do show up regularly some evenings for an hour and can occupy the mat area or part of the hand weights area. There have, on occasion, been two groups at the same time. The gym is not big and the selection of equipment might not satisfy the hard core enthusiast. Old equipment gets replaced at satisfactory intervals with new basic functionality stuff. There appears to have been a lot of recent upgrades in equipment. Patron feedback is occasionally requested on a sample of a new machine put temporarily in the gym. Some current aerobic machines seem to have some minor functions that don't work. Heart rate displays don't work and some of the bike training options don't seem to function. Complaints about small damage or malfunctioning equipment usually are only slowly remedied or not at all. Broken equipment does not get fixed rapidly. The facility does not get back to you personally if you complain about something. I have only seen them once provide responses to customer suggestion box input. Would guess these are cost containment practices. The front desk staff are friendly and helpful. Would suggest they document in detail what a patron is doing exactly when an equipment use problem is clearly demonstrated to them, to help repair personnel find the problem, rather than jumping on the machine themselves to reproduce. Patrons of the gym are uniformly polite and courteous and I have seen only a few instances of guys banging heavy weights too loudly or people grunting a lot. Unfortunately, the staff do not seem to directly enforce the posted gym rules of behavior once people get in the gym. The facility generally reverts to occasionally posting polite signs urging good behavior. Great U of A personal trainers are available on an hourly rate basis to provide exercise advice or proscribe a routine to follow. I do find they don't think about how the suggested routines effect other gym goers. I don't like, for example, going back and forth between two areas monopolizing both, one having only left behind mats etc. but otherwise unused for many minutes. The 'General' (vs 'Gold' - has hot tub(?)) locker room is nice enough. Occasional influxes of curlers can make things crowded at times but most people will politely make room for you. The building can be chilly in winter and muggy in the fitness room in the summer months - with your sweaty gym clothes not drying out if left in your locker between summer sessions. The building air conditioning seems to be blasting full on this summer. The fitness room makes do with a couple of large fans for added ventilation. Hours of operation are OK for me but more limited than say the Kinsmen. Security has been an issue in the past with my locker being broken into once. The facility issued locks have since been upgraded to a more secure brand. I have met up with at least one bizarrely behaving non-patron (I suspect) hanging out in the locker room. Bikes have been regularly stolen from the racks in front of the building (I have had bike lights lifted off of my bike myself). The bike racks were moved to be directly in view of the front entrance a while back due to the issues. I don't know if the malfunctioning security video cameras that provided no help with past thefts have been fixed. Fitness room fees used to be inexpensive, then one year they dropped the cheap yearly rate and instituted a quite higher by-the-month fee, which was advertised as a service offering improvement. A number of regular patrons I knew subsequently decided they could do better elsewhere and didn't return when their membership came up for renewal. If the facility was losing money at the lower rate, then I'm OK with higher...

Five negative issues:

1- My son is registered in a program here in Saville center. The program fees are very expensive compared to many other places in the city. 2- The kids were playing out for Two hours from 1:30 pm. This afternoon time is known of the highest level of UV and harmful sun radiations. Yes, the kids were having sunscreen on, however any junior physician suggests to avoid being out under direct sunlight for two hours in one of the hottest summer days (it was 31 C !!!!!). Some of the kids were wearing shorts and short sleeves or even no shirt at all.!!!!. There could be tens of other indoor activities having the kids engaged in instead of going outside for prolonged period specifically during this not recommended duration (well known between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm). 3- In a place with these very expensive program fees, you expect a higher level of cleanness. I am sitting on a chair and there is dust accumulations on the floor and a dead fly..!!!!!! 4- When the kids came back from playing outside for Two hours, the instructor told the kids they can start eating their snacks right away...Without Washing Their hands!!!! 5- The staff seamed not friendly, welcoming, nor very knowledgeable.

I will really think many times before coming back here again...

My children and I went to the recreation center earlier this July 30th around 5:30ish in the evening to attend a drop-in session. Unfortunately, when I politely asked the front desk staff if I could purchase a pass, she responded rudely and told me she couldn’t issue one. I was surprised and disappointed, especially since I expected the front desk to be a place where guests are welcomed and assisted professionally. Her behavior was far from what I would consider acceptable customer service.

What made the situation worse was that she didn’t stop at being rude at the front desk—she actually followed us into the gym and started yelling at us to leave, even though we were just sitting quietly with my children. When I explained that I had a stroller and needed a moment to gather our things, she threatened to call security. I couldn’t understand why she was treating us this way, especially with young children involved.

I felt deeply disrespected and even targeted, and I believe her actions were discriminatory. I sincerely hope this staff member is no longer put in a position where she deals with the public, as her behavior was unprofessional and completely...