UIC Student Recreation Facility

Great gym, horrible hours.

As an alumni, the UIC gym is amazing. For one you can’t beat the amount of amenities they have for the price of 37 dollars/​month. They literally have everything, machines, free weights, indoor track, swimming pools, basketball courts, multipurpose rooms, rock climbing. They even have squash and racketball courts and free group classes! After a strenuous workout, I love going by the pool since they also have a nice jacuzzi and sauna/​steam room. The staff there is super friendly (all students). The only nick if any is the locker room. Sometimes it gets crowded and there’s not enough room to fit everyone, but it’s a small price to pay all in all. I have been to many gyms that are 3* or more expensive, and they don’t even come close to what this gym has to offer. Strongly recommended for alumnis of UIC.

Being a student at UIC has its perks. One of the major ones is having access to the Student Rec Facility (SRF). Conveniently located at Harrison and Halsted (easy to reach by bus or blue line or bike), the SRF has a nice, new and very modern building. It is a multi-​level gym complex with a café, the help desk, the locker rooms and pool on the first floor, squash and racquetball and basketball courts on the second and weights and a track on the third. It’s a really big complex! I haven’t even seen all parts of it because I would either run on the circular track or go swimming.
I give it 4 stars because I wish it had longer hours and I don’t always feel it’s as clean as I would like. It’s not bad or disgusting or anything, but it could be better. Plus their lock renting system is not the most organized and the staff are largely students, which is fine but it means the service is hit or miss. I guess it’s like anywhere, some are great and others are not so great. But all in all the gym is nice and never really too busy. The pool hardly ever has anyone in it! So that makes me happy! It’s also much more reasonably priced for students (and even for non-​students) than other gyms. If you want a cheaper, bigger option than most typical gyms, this is a great way to go!

Good gym with ample study space. The ping pong tables are in poor shape. The place lacks olympic lifting equipment, which is probably the only drawback for lifters. Plenty of treadmills, stair-​climbers, rowing machines, free weights.
The climbing wall is awesome and easily accessible for beginners — try bringing a friend to belay for you.

UIC has a great rec center this is thrown into your tuition so check it out if you have some time. The equipment is great and lots of things to choose from. It can get really busy during peak hours in the afternoon so avoid if you want a non rushed stress free workout. You get a nice locker room showers towels pools basketball courts and so many things other then just somewhere to lift. All students should try and go! The hours are pretty good and easy to get to if you live on or around campus

this review has been a long time coming.
if you are a student and membership is included in your tuition – good for you.
if you are an alumni and tempted by the discounted membership – find a comparable price at a gym elsewhere.
if you do not go here and are thinking about buying a membership – DO NOT.
because most of the people using the gym are students who pay for their membership with their tuition (i.e. no refunds, no skin off their teeth if a student stops going), they don’t treat members with the respect i would expect. i have an alumni membership and still look like a college student, and they are SO RUDE to me.
they run out of towels constantly (every time i tried yesterday THREE times, out. how is that possible?).
guests are not allowed to use the outdoor tennis courts/​basketball hoops. they didn’t tell me this until after i paid for my guest and bought tennis balls. wow.
i find myself perpetually frustrated here. it’s a beautiful facility (props to the architects and the person who designed the gym itself) but the staff and little things make it an ugly experience.

Awesome state of the art equipment and machines! Even machines I never heard of until I saw them here. Just wish cardio equipment had their own tv! Wish they free-​weight leg equipment like hack squat for example :-(Very clean all the time. I’ve taken a class with Wallace before and I am not a fan of classes but going to his are a lot of fun and I go when I can! Definitely gets you sore the next day!

OMG UIC’S GYM IS BEAUTIFUL. kekeke
and the people there are suuuperrr cool and friendly
very smiley: D heehee.
but yeah, the gyms super clean and new
and even a nice place to chill (and grab a smoothie/​sandwich thanks to tropical smoothie!) or even study!

By far my favorite gym in Chicago. I went to school at UIC, and I have to admit that in terms of equipment and activities available here, I like it even better than XSport. If you are an alumni they have very reasonable rates, a year ago it was around $ 30/​month or so. Pool, hot tub and sauna are very clean. Showers are alright (it takes a minute for water to heat up). They have a punching bag, activity rooms with mirrors that you can practice in, if there is no class. I love the view! I usually work out by the entire row of windows and it’s really motivational to me. It’s easy to meet people here. If I were single, and still a student, this would definitely be the easiest place to meet a partner. Their selection of machines is just great and mat availability accommodates those like me, who focus predominantly on the stretching/​yoga aspect of a work out.

I can’t believe they changed the locks without notice… I didn’t even bring a lock with me and didn’t know what to do with the hour I had. :(

This is not only a gym, but it’s a community. There is always a fun event happening!
Many of the members establish great relationships with the instructors and staff. When you come to this facility, you not only get a great workout but you are welcomed with open arms.
The facility also has Try it Week which allows you to drop in on classes that wouldn’t normally be free so that you can experience the best of what the rec center has to offer! If you don’t want to pay for any classes, there is a packed full schedule of drop in classes that are ALWAYS free.
The pool is great too :) This place rocks!

I am a gym head and if I could I would live in a gym. Out of all gyms I’ve been to YMCA, X Sport, LA Fitness, EBC, etc etc I would choose to live at the UIC recreation center. They have it all from huge wall to climb to racket ball. The basketball courts are great in that there is always one thats free. The swimming pool is huge. The saunas are awesome, the staff is cool, the food is great, the weights are amazing, shall I continue??? Now I am a student so I get all of these perks and more for free. I recommend this place to anyone who has access to it. I cant think of anything bad with the gym I Love This Place!!!

This place is awesome. It can get a bit crowded during the afternoon, but that’s expected. My only real complaint is that they only have one squat rack… They definitely need to get some more.

Pretty good gym. Fairly new equipment. They finally brought back the small food stand on the first floor so you can get smoothies. The gym has a weird pool, squash and racquetball courts, weight lifting area with machines and free weights, running track, four basketball courts, study room, two ping pong tables, rock wall, indoor soccer court, small area for martial arts with a punching bag, and some small areas for group fitness such as yoga and spinning classes.
The gym is mainly for UIC students but you can buy a memebership at a pretty decent rate the only downside is that it goes by student hours so you have to consider that when buying it. (School breaks mean shorter hours and it’s closed on certain random days.)

I love this gym. I hate the crappy hours tho.

Ahhhhh UIC G.Y.M… why have it wrought thee?
You have been my home since it opened and i’m sad that i will be leaving this place after this semester. We have spent many winters, summers, spring, and fall days together. And soon our journey will coming to an end. I will be graduating this spring semester. I remember when the UIC gym used to be a dinky little hole in the ground under the inner circle café. It used to be the size of a small living room. Nightmare, CHECK! This is definitely much better.
THere are endless amenities as some people listed here on Unilocal.Saunas and the lazy rivers are great in the summers and there are tons of machines to exercise on. Bathrooms are clean and cool looking. And a plus is that you don’t even need a lock. They are Self-​locking lockers. The beginning of each semester tend to be very crowded as well as certain times of the day might be a problem for some people because they might occupy the machine you want to use. Another thing my bf pointed out was the lack of available lockers in the guys side. The ratio of men to women is probably 3 to 1. It’s also funny how intimidating the weight section might be for women. I rarely see any women on that side. They are usually reserved for the guys and men who eat people for breakfast.
Note*** for an non-​uic memeber, is 1,200 dollars and for a uic alumni it is $ 430… Again, i say farewell to this place.

is it a Lifetime Fitness or XSports?
No.
is it not bad for a university gym where membership is already included in your student fees/​tuition and there’s no way to deduct it?
it’s decent.
are they going to give you free tampons, unlimited towels and free childcare?
are you kidding me, this is UIC.
–minus ½ star for their ever-​changing hours (what if one of the student employees gets a B because they had to work during finals? yeah, you’re right, let’s just close the gym)
–minus another ½ star for their janky shower curtains which led my friend to expose herself

as alumni, we get great discounts to become members of this gym and I love it! Before renewing my membership, I checked out other gyms however none came up to par to this brand new beautiful and full amenity gym.
It has everything:
rows of quality machines looking at overhead tv screens
very cool, clean, open, light & airy feeling.
large windows look out onto the city and campus.
¹⁄₈ mile running track, with fans blowing and digital clock.
large feildhouse set up for pickup bball/​vball
raquetball courts
4 story rock climbing wall
3 lane, 25 yd pool w/​recreation area (lazy river) large hot tub & sauna
pool has a large digital clock! (this is hard to come by in gyms!)
clean and large locker rooms
drop in classes all year long
massage & athletic trainers
juice bar
babysitting/​day care.
no other gym compared to the price and the quality here! My only complaint, as a swimmer, I would love to be in a better pool (ie. more lanes, deeper) however at least it’s 25 yds and not what most gyms have, «junior olympic».
Also, their hours vary a lot throughout the year. Pool will be closed due to events. Or the hours of the gym will shorten when school is not in session.

What’s Good – sauna, hot tub, three lap lanes, spacious area for cardio machines, free weights, and weight machines. They have a nice running track, basketball courts, indoor soccer courts
Not good – They are slow to repair maintenance issues. They close down during UIC’s winter break.

It’s funny to me that folks are writing reviews for a university recreation center, but I guess you never know when someone’s looking for a great university student recreation center to join.
I visit the SRF about three or four times a week, usually in the mornings. It’s busiest right after the new year, and right before spring break. I try to avoid going in the afternoon or evenings because it’s way too busy then. The best part: the spin classes are now free!
If you’re a local resident looking for a convenient gym, I’d recommend you look elsewhere. The SRF is first, and foremost, a STUDENT recreation facility. They do allow staff, faculty, alumni, and community members to join, but the hours are limited when students are not in classes (and they close for two weeks during Christmas break).
However, if you’re a UIC student, you can’t beat the price or the convenience!