Techny Prairie Activity Center celebrates a milestone while helping Northbrook residents stay active and healthy

From pickleball to basketball, fencing and Taekwondo, Northbrook residents are staying active while participating in the variety of fitness options available at the Techny Prairie Activity Center.

Opened a year ago in the midst of a global pandemic, the Northbrook Park District's 43,000-square-foot facility has helped fill a void as village residents try to stay healthy.

The park district broke ground for construction during the summer of 2019, and the official opening was New Year's Day last year. The activity center occupies the former site of a light industrial facility and is adjacent to Techny Prairie Park and Fields and the Anetsberger Golf Course, just south of downtown Northbrook.

Northbrook Park District Recreation Division Manager Angus Shields said the Northbrook Park District previously had limited space for fitness training equipment, classes and gym activities, and grade-school gymnasiums were used to help meet the needs of the latter. The gym alone at the new activity center occupies 10,000 square feet.

"We've never had our own gymnasium; we've been reliant on all the school districts," Shields said.

In addition to basketball and volleyball, pickleball, which resembles tennis at first glance but is played on a smaller court with paddles and a hard plastic ball, is a popular at activity in the gym.

Other features of the activity center include an eight-laps-to-a-mile oval walking track on the upper level, a 6,000-square-foot fitness floor that features more than 75 pieces of equipment, rooms for fitness classes, and a multipurpose room for meetings, parties and events.

In addition to live, in-person classes, Fitness on Demand is among the available offerings. Using a module located on the wall, users make a selection of one of 300 available virtual fitness classes, then follow the workout as it plays on TV screens.

Shields said the park district takes pride in the fact that the building is a net zero energy facility that features 800 solar panels on the roof, which capture the same amount of energy or greater than is used throughout the year.

COVID-19 mitigations have made the operation of the activity center challenging, Shields said.

There were strict mitigations at the start, and just six people could use each of the six basketball hoops in the gym by themselves at any one time, then restrictions eased during the summer when vaccines became available. More recently, as pandemic numbers spiked, participants were required to wear masks, and at the start of this year proof of vaccination is required due to a Cook County mandate.

Shields said one of the benefits to having opened during a time of strict COVID-19 mitigations was that there wasn't a rush of people attempting to immediately use the facility.

"The members that are here are happy because it's not super-crowded," Shields said. "You can get a lot of time and you're not waiting for equipment."

Prior to the start of the pandemic, the park district estimated 1,300 members would be using the activity center, which is 66% of capacity, and afterward that projection was scaled back to 850, Shields said. There are currently around 775 members.

Members using the activity center thus far have been treated to a new facility that features dozens of options to stay active.

"It really fills a gap," Shields said. "As a park district, we try to encourage healthy lifestyles, and so this helps feed into that."