City gets grant for fitness station

Outdoor facility to be adjacent to Rock Island Greenway

Nancy Bergeron

The city of Ruston has received a $30,000 National Fitness Campaign grant to help pay for a central outdoor fitness facility that will be placed adjacent to the Rock Island Greenway close to the corner of Henderson Street and West California Avenue.

The grant is part of the NFC’s 2019 Health Cities Campaign.

The money represents 25 percent of the funding required to participate in the fitness campaign, according to the NFC website. For Ruston, the additional funds will come out of a larger Lincoln Health Foundation Grant the city won last year, said Andrew Halbrook, Ruston’s engineering technology manager.

Lincoln Health Foundation will be featured as the title sponsor no the court, as well as in other promotions and on a mobile Fitness Court app.

The 38-by-38 court is a seven-station body-weight circuit training court that can be completed in seven minutes. Twenty-eight people use the course simultaneously, according to the nFC website.

“This is an exciting time for our city as we partner with the National Fitness Campaign to bring the Fitness Court to Ruston,” Mayor Ronny Walker said. “It is our Goa lot encourage increased physical activity and bring health recreational options to Ruston. This first began with the walking and biking trails, and now we have the opportunity to build the Fitness Center which will provide free physical activity options for our residents and visitors of all ages and skill levels.”

The course is expected to be in place by late summer or early fall, Halbrook said.

Ruston is one of 200 sites nationwide where the NFC is rolling out Fitness Courts this year.

According to an NFC press release, the group’s grant program is designed to “activate public spaces by connecting trails, well-placed pedestrian infrastructure and community meeting points with a central outdoor gym facility.”

The Rock Island Greenway is shared-use path that, when finished, will span the almost 6-mile length of the city along the old Rock Island railroad bed. The city’s vision is the sidewalk and paths will link neighborhoods to the greenway and afford residents easier walking or biking access to medical facilities, churches, schools and businesses.