Lewis said that adding more fitness equipment to the MAC is his first priority, and noted that there is also insufficient room for recreational activities like martial arts, dance and table tennis.
"[The MAC's] fitness facilities are inadequate," Lewis said. "There simply aren't enough stations."
On the whole, the building's 110,000 square feet, he said, are inefficiently used.
Lewis said he expects a report from HNTB next winter.
Patricia W. Henry, who is senior associate director of athletics, said the Athletic Department has not yet met with HNTB, but will do so in the next couple of weeks.
According to Henry, the department plans to work closely with FAS administrators throughout the planning process. She declined to comment further.
Lewis would not say exactly how much time he will be away from University Hall this semester to fundraise for the MAC, adding that trips to visit potential donors are nothing unusual for him--particularly in the spring, when he does not have teaching duties.
"I do fundraising all the time, and have for years, even before I became Dean," he wrote in an e-mail. "For example, I was among those who asked my former student Bill Gates to fund the construction of Maxwell Dworkin."