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Parks & Environmental Services
Cities ramp up outdoor fitness offerings By LAUREN CAGGIANO | The Municipal
What does a healthier community look like? Providing opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to recreate on their terms is one facet of public health. Outdoor fitness park installations, known as FitLots, strengthen people and their communities by supporting the creation of public outdoor fitness parks. The organization helps communities plan, build and activate outdoor fitness parks so everyone can enjoy the benefits of a more active lifestyle. With a goal to bring the concept to all 50 states by the end of 2021, FitLot has partnered with the senior advocacy organization AARP to provide grant funding to install these structures in multiple communities around the country.
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Burlington, Vt., is one such municipality. The community boasts a FitLot at the Miller Recreation Center and has experienced success in making fitness age inclusive. According to Burlington Director of Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Cindi Wight, the location was strategic. “We chose the Miller Recreation Center for multiple reasons,” she said. “For one, there are two schools right nearby, the CP Smith and Hunt Middle School. So, if the schools wanted to include it all in their curriculum, it would be something that would be readily accessible to them. There’s a senior center
ABOVE: The Lansing FitLot complements the nearby river trail. (Photo provided)
located just about half a mile from the Miller Center. We knew that seniors would be potentially looking for free outdoor fitness.” According to Wight, their hunch was correct, but it wasn’t just people 65-plus who used the facilities. She said she sees younger people “I live across from the FitLot, and I see all the activity on it, “she said. “And we see people in their 20s who are doing lots of pull-ups and things on it. But then we also see our seniors who utilize the equipment.” On that note, the parks department has made a point to be proactive in its outreach by offering circuit training programming at convenient times for this demographic. In addition, the department has partnered
