The university will begin implementing several new security measures in Cousens Gym this semester in response to growing safety concerns.
"We want to make sure that we're limiting access to the facility to the people that have the right to be there," Athletics Director Bill Gehling said.
To that end, a card-reading system will be installed at the main entrance to make sure that everybody who enters has a valid Tufts ID.
A similar device will be installed at the door between Halligan Hall and Cousens. According to Gehling, there is currently no security system at that door.
These systems will also help administrators know exactly who is in the building in the event of an investigation, as the card readers maintain records that can be accessed later.
"We presumably ought to know who enters [the] building," Gehling said.
Security cameras in some hallways will have a similar purpose.
"We will be able to go back and use the information for investigative purposes," Director of Public Safety John King said.
Additionally, security alarms will be placed on the exterior doors of Cousens to protect its multiple entrances and exits.
As a final change, King said that there will be "some additional improvements" to the women's locker room. This includes making the rear door in the locker room only accessible from the inside.
These changes aim to reduce the number of larcenies that have long plagued Cousens. Last semester, the Daily reported that during one six-week period, the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) received at least eight reports indicating that items were stolen from the gym.
Stolen items ranged from goggles to cell phones to credit cards. There were also a number of reports last year of a man spying on women in the locker room. "Security at the gym has long been an issue," Gehling said.
Plans to update gym security have been in the works for years, according to Gehling, and last semester the athletics department hoped to have tightened measures in place by the beginning of this academic year.
But once the administration announced the construction of the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, the timeline had to be set back, as the project's proponents realized that at some point they would need to coordinate it with major construction.
As it stands now, the project will be "phased in over a period of months" and hopefully will be completed by the end of the semester, according to King.
Both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering are funding the project. Although King declined to say exactly how much money the project would cost, he said it is over $50,000.
