The Campus Recreation Center updated some of its weight lifting equipment in May, replacing old machines that had been purchased as early as August 1995, when the Rec was first built.

According to information obtained by the Northern Star through an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request, the Rec paid $24,945.30 with delivery charges for the 16 new pieces of equipment. The initial cost of the 16 machines with delivery was $29,945, but the supplier — Body Masters Sports Industries, Inc. — offered a $5,000 trade-in for 14 of the old machines that the new equipment replaced.

According to Rec sources, the old equipment was not defective, but was ‘outdated.’ The 14 traded-in machines were purchased in 1995 for $42,364. Calculated with inflation, the price ten years ago would be equal to about $52,708.01 today.

Some of the traded-in equipment had been purchased more recently. Of the 14 traded-in machines, one was purchased in January 1997 for $11,217 and another in October 2000 for $2,410. The newest piece of equipment traded in was purchased in December 2001 for $690.

According to Rec sources, Becky Lewis, the Rec’s Assistant Director of Fitness, was in charge of the equipment purchases. Lewis was not in her office Monday and did not return phone calls and e-mails.

Sources told the Northern Star for a July 18 article that 21 new pieces of equipment had been purchased in May, although billing details were included for 16 new machines.

“The new equipment replaced the old almost item for item with upgraded features and style,” Lewis said in the July 18 article.

Officials say that had the old machines not been traded, they likely would have ended up in the university’s inventory control system.