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Huntley park to debut outdoor fitness area

Workers are putting finishing touches to an outdoor fitness area that will open in Huntley's Deicke Park next month.

Nine pieces of strength and resistance training equipment from Greenfields Outdoor Fitness have been installed in the park near the baseball fields on the west side, just east of Stingray Bay aquatic center and south of the REC Center.

"It's almost completed," said Debbie Kraus, recreation director for Huntley Park District. "There should be some shade structures coming."

The park district purchased the equipment for $87,000, a portion of which was funded through a grant from Greenfields.

Some of the equipment is Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

"We work with different groups that have ADA accessibility needs," Kraus said.

Members of the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association frequently use the park district's indoor fitness center inside the REC Center, which also was outfitted with ADA-compliant equipment last summer. Between NISRA, group fitness program participants and regular visitors, more than 2,600 people used the fitness center in February.

Few suburban communities - Schaumburg and Tinley Park - have outdoor fitness areas in parks. Huntley's outdoor fitness equipment will be freely accessible to all community residents, and occasionally will be used for park district programs.

"It was an opportunity to provide our community with another healthy outlet," Kraus said. "We weren't responding to a need ... we were just enhancing our park amenities."

Opening day is June 12.

  Huntley Park District recreation director Debbie Kraus walks through an outdoor fitness area in Deicke Park that officials hope to open by June 12. It includes nine pieces of resistance and strength training equipment from Greenfields Outdoor Fitness. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Deicke Park in Huntley is getting outdoor fitness equipment and its new fitness area opens June 12. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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