While Columbus is a city known for its unfit citizens, Ohio State students are showing they care about getting fit.

Student attendance at the Jesse Owens facilities around campus has increased in the last three years.

“It may be an awareness of the fact that more students are becoming aware of the control that they have over their personal wellness, realizing they can have a positive impact on their later life challenges with heart disease, obesity, diabetes and even cancers,” said J. Michael Dunn, director of the Department of Recreational Sports.

“I’ve been going to Jesse Owens North since I was a freshman, and it has gotten more and more crowded throughout the years,” said Mike Nowak, a senior in electrical engineering.

“Monday is the busiest day of the week,” said Bruce Maurer, associate director of Outdoor and Satellite Facilities. On average, Sunday through Thursday maintains a steady attendance with about 4,000 students per day at Jesse Owens North and South combined, he said.

“Most quarters there is a downfall in attendance towards the end of the quarter due to finals and other projects students are involved in, but during winter quarter there is much less of a fall-off in attendance due to students wanting to stay in shape and look good for spring break and the warm weather ahead,” Maurer said.

People tend to avoid the outdoors because of the cold weather, so they use the indoor facilities, he said.

“We have been adding equipment to the centers in the past two years to help with the overcrowding,” Maurer said. “Since then, we have gone from 750 square feet of fitness space to 4,000 square feet, along with adding more weight-lifting and cardio equipment to meet the increased demand.”

Besides adding equipment and space to the facilities, the Department of Recreational Sports has lengthened its hours of operation.

“We try to expand hours in facilities that are bursting at the seams,” Dunn said.

Jesse Owens North and South are now open until 2 a.m. instead of midnight Sunday through Thursday, and open at noon instead of 3 p.m. on Saturday.

“Last quarter 10,000 students took advantage of the expanded hours,” Maurer said.

The Department of Recreational Sports is also adding the Adventure Recreation Center on West Campus. The center will be located at the corner of Kenny Road and Woody Hayes Drive and is expected to be ready for use by the start of summer quarter. It will feature 86,000 square feet of recreation space, including 5,000 square feet of fitness space, two indoor turf fields, four basketball courts, indoor and outdoor rope courses and an indoor rock climbing wall.

“We are hoping that the new Adventure Recreation Center will help with some of the over-crowding problems,” said Jimmy Francis, coordinator of the Adventure Recreation Center.