The Spa, the tanning salon in the Student Recreation Complex, will no longer operate, effective this semester.

Operated by Tan Time LLC, The Spa has been in legal battles with MU since 2008, when MU informed the company that its services would no longer be needed by the recreation complex due to health risks posed by tanning beds. In 2010, the case was taken to the Missouri Court of Appeals.

“We’ve gotten an opinion back from the Court of Appeals and they uphold the court’s verdict that the lease ended on Dec. 31 of 2010,” MU lawyer Kelly Mescher said.

The Spa did not want the contract terminated because they didn’t want to lose the space, which cost them $180,000 in investments.

Tan Time LLC decided to accept the court’s decision, rather than take it to the Missouri Supreme Court.

“You have a statistical chance of 4 percent for getting to the Missouri Supreme Court, so them taking the case would be very low,” Tan Time LLC’s lawyer Thomas Schneider said. “Frankly, this is just not a case they would even take.”

No type of settlement or compensation was paid to Tan Time LLC.

“The transition was professional and proceeded as planned,” Recreation Services and Facilities Director Diane Dahlmann said. “Staff from the spa communicated directly with their clients about the upcoming transition. Team Mizzou staff members have been coached about how to respond to spa inquiries.”

The recreation complex has no definite plans about how the space will be filled in the future, but Dahlmann indicated the space might be used for Tiger Training, a personal training program for students.

“Tiger Training is a growing program,” she said. “MizzouRec would like to enhance the program space for training and has already joined the two spaces.”

Tiger Training offers a variety of personal training packages, including personal fitness assessments, individual personal training, partner training and nutrition planning.

Students can also work one-on-one with a personal trainer in the Pump Room and Jungle Gym.

Program growth and development is primarily dictated by student interest,” Dahlmann said. “Over the past two years, interest and demand for training has been steadily growing.

On average, more than 100 people per semester use Tiger Training.

“As a result, MizzouRec is responding to student voices by dedicating time and effort into enhancing this important program and service,” Dahlman said.