Members of the Lees Police Department Public Works Department along with Justin Soules of Soules Fitness (pictured above right) test out the city’s new outdoor fitness facility on Wednesday, July 12. As part of its grand opening celebration, members of both the Police Department and the Public Works Department took part in an on-field Battle of the Badges competition. Photo by Shaw Israel Izikson.
Lee City residents and officials celebrated the opening of an outdoor fitness court at a grand opening event on Wednesday, July 12. The field is located at 300 Greylock Street between Lee Middle and High School, near the school’s athletic field.
The 40-square-foot outdoor court is designed to be a full circuit training center that includes seven fitness stations for push-ups, squats, pull-ups, lunges and push-ups.
According to city manager Christopher Brittain, the total cost of the outdoor fitness court is $120,000, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts paying $50,000 of the courthouse costs, with the rest of the courthouse installation and construction costs were paid for by federal government American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. One of the reasons we created this outdoor fitness center is that we wanted residents to have more outdoor fitness opportunities, Brittain told The Berkshire Edge. After the pandemic, we think outdoor exercise is more important than ever. The equipment we have on the course is all-weather and the drills are for all skill levels.
This fitness court has a really nice setup because it allows you to do full-body exercises, said Lees National Fitness Campaign Ambassador Justin Soules of Soules Fitness. I think this is great for the community at large because it’s important to have a drive to make people feel good.
The National Fitness Campaign was founded in 1979 as a wellness consultancy and has sponsored the construction of similar outdoor fitness courts across America. The company has partnered with other health care providers in setting up more outdoor fitness courts, including Massachusetts’ Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is planning to help fund more fitness camps in the state. This is the sixth such outdoor fitness camp we’ve opened statewide and the second of 12 we’ll be doing this year, the company’s vice president of municipal sales and labor Paul Sweeney said. We want to expand access to free exercise equipment in the community. The more people exercise, the healthier they will be.
The schools are happy to host the fitness camp, Lee High School principal Gregg Brighenti said during the dedication ceremony. This is not only for the general public, but also for the use of our student body, especially our high school students as part of their physical education and health curriculum. Hopefully this will be a tool that can help show them that lifelong fitness matters and can be fun. There was considerable interest in what happened here from the student body during the spring as it was being built. So I’m looking forward to seeing our teachers use court with our students.
During the inaugural event, members of the Police Department and Department of Public Works took part in a Battle of the Badges competition, as each team ran around the field, practicing at each station.
According to city manager Brittain, the outdoor fitness camp will be open to those over the age of 14 during the day when schools are not open.
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Image Source : theberkshireedge.com