Return of the MAC

On September 19, 275 Seattle Central staff, faculty, and volunteers gathered in the Mitchell Activity Center for President’s Day, where they listened to speeches, picked up Tiger merchandise, and played pool. While attendees heralded the new academic year, the MAC flaunted the sparkle of its newly painted and resurfaced gym floor.

The gym floor is just one of many changes for the MAC this year. Since late summer, the MAC has undergone significant remodels aimed at revitalizing campus engagement. In addition to physical renovations, the MAC staff has also focused on activating underutilized spaces, offering more activities, and increasing accessibility to the facilities through a new Punch Pass card system to return the MAC’s attendance to pre-pandemic levels.

New MAC gym floor

To address this, Sammy Faust, who took the helm as manager in January 2024, has made the space more inviting and functional.

“It’s about making the MAC a space where students feel welcome and engaged,” Faust stated, adding that the renovations are a part of a larger college strategy to create a vibrant campus community partially through reactivating spaces. President Lane echoed this same sentiment in his President’s Day keynote, emphasizing the importance of “moving with purpose” this year.

Faust and the MAC staff have initiated numerous updates across the facility, prioritizing cleanliness, organization, and aesthetic enhancements. One key renovation so far has been the resurfacing and repainting of the basketball gym floor, which supports recreational use, rental activities, and events like President’s Day and New Student Orientation. Room 210, the MAC’s primary meeting space, also received a substantial makeover. On President’s Day, Room 210 hosted coffee, tea, and later in the day, free chair massages, while boasting its fresh paint, student artwork, and shiny hardwood floors that had been trapped under its previous carpet for years.

MAC staff is also upgrading all the water fountains in the building and are working to complete facility-wide HVAC maintenance, replace the safety belts on all the basketball hoops in the gym, and hopefully install security cameras by the end of academic year, according to Faust. “Those updates aren’t as exciting, but worthwhile to note we are working on the health and safety of the building,” she shared.

Faust and the MAC team have functionally reworked spaces, like the weight room. Many machines were replaced or repaired, and others were rearranged to foster a safer and less-congested workout space.

New MAC weight room

To further promote wellness and a sense of community amongst Seattle Central affiliates, the MAC hired 6 new fitness instructors to teach free yoga, Pilates, dance, and HIIT with a gym membership. The MAC is also rolling out its Punch Pass Program: a $25 pass that gets you – or a friend – 5 visits to the facility.

“It’s also a great option if a staff or faculty member doesn't want to sign up for a membership or doesn't want to do payroll deduction,” added Faust. More information on both the Punch Pass program and the fitness class schedule can be found on the MAC webpage.

Be on the lookout for additional MAC renovations and projects this fall, and a longer version of this story in the next edition of our Alumni magazine, out this December.

Information on membership and the Punch Pass Program

Current fitness class schedule