Beyond Bellmont

Besides classrooms, offices and the majority of Longhorn athletes strutting the floors, Bellmont Hall has a variety of Recreational Sports facilities for community members and students to use. In case you find Gregory too touristy or the Recreational Sports Center too crowded with freshmen or girls desperatley trying to get fit before the holidays or Spring Break, take advantage of one of the most exclusive workout facilities on campus.

Bellmont is located in the football stadium on San Jacinto Boulevard across from the Alumni Center. Walk up the steps through the glass doors and take the elevator to the third floor. If you manage to get on the elevator the first time, walk out of the elevator, make a right and walk down the freshly-painted hallway till you run into the glory of Rec Sports, Bellmont 348.

I’ll be honest, the weight room is old and populated mostly by retired faculty and elderly professors or community members, but let me assure you, the equipment is quality and there is literally a total of four people in the weight room at any given time.

The exclusivity of the facility is one of the biggest appeals and the majority of students are totally naive to its presence.

“No one knows about this place so you literally have a private gym,” Texas Exe member Nick Christenson said. “It’s old and not as flashy as the other gyms but perfect for what I want to do.”

With four cardio machines and a complete set of dumbbells, Rec Sports is also in charge of two other floors inside Bellmont. Along with the weight room, there is a fencing room on the third floor and the fifth floor has two rooms where patrons can dance or even play badminton. The ninth floor also has squash courts and a martial arts room.

So if you don’t mind green painted walls, bright fluorescent lights or the occasional encounter with a naked elderly patron in the locker-room, give Bellmont a try. You may not have the luxury of watching attractive patrons of the opposite sex flexing their muscles, but you do have the privacy that many people feel no longer exists in public gyms.

You can also get personal training sessions at Bellmont if you prefer it to the other gyms on campus. The hours for Bellmont are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

You can take a virtual tour here