CORNWALL, Ontario – Two years and $65,000 later, a pair of Cornwall Rotary clubs have broken ground on an addition to Lamoureux Park – an outdoor gym.
Representatives from both the Rotary Club of Cornwall and the Sunrise Rotary Club held a small gathering in the park Tuesday to officially kickoff construction of the gym, which will include 10 pieces of equipment and a stone-laden circle with the inscriptions of donors and sponsors.
“Not everyone can afford to go to the gym,” said Larry Gaunce of the Sunrise club. “This will allow individuals to come and make themselves healthy.”
About $45,000 has been raised to date for the project, which includes $15,000 from each club and the sale of the bricks to the public that will be laid into the ground at the site of the gym.
The City of Cornwall donated the land to the project.
Rotary Club of Cornwall president Jeremiah Point thanked the many sponsors, construction people and volunteers who helped make the project a reality.
“It’s taken us two years to get to this point,” he said.
Brick sales and other fundraising activities will take place to collect the balance owing on the project.
Pat Clarke, a member of the Rotary Club of Cornwall, said a small amount of construction will begin this year, before things wrap up in the spring. He said the project is expected to be completed by May, depending on the weather.
The gym equipment is built of heavy steel to resist the weather and damage from would-be vandals.
Clarke added a second phase of the project, which is likely to take years to complete as well, would be the addition of other pieces of exercise equipment along the length of the bike path in the park.
