Toby Sells
A crowd of local leaders breaks ground on a new adult fitness station in Audubon Park.
Later this summer, an adult fitness station will open in Audubon Park, giving adults access to full-body workouts and taking away their excuses for getting in shape.
Memphis leaders gathered at the park Tuesday to break ground on the station. They said the number of fitness options has grown in Memphis over the years, leaving citizens with “no excuses” on exercise. Also, they pushed for a new image of Memphis, past our cultural allegiance to smoked pork.
Funds for the new station came from Procter & Gamble, the giant products manufacturer known for everything from Ivory soap and Head & Shoulders to ZzzQuil and Tampax. The company branded the project in support of its new line of nutrition products from Metamucil, which includes probiotic pills and fiber bars.
The funding deal was brokered locally by the Common Table Health Alliance, a health and health-care improvement collaborative for the Memphis region.
The equipment will be installed in the heart of Audubon Park, close to the clubhouse for the Audubon Park Golf Course. It will include a chest press, stations for chin-ups, pull-ups, and push-ups, an elliptical machine, a cardio walker, and more. In the center of the station will be a water fountain and a mister to help visitors cool down.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said the new station is part of a “real ecosystem [in Memphis] in which everybody is talking about fitness.”
“I’ve never seen a time like this in the city of Memphis in which every day, instead of going to a bunch of funerals, I’m going to a bunch of fitness things,” Wharton said.
He noted other fitness projects in the city’s 162 parks, like adult tricycles and FootGolf for kids, leaving Memphians with “no excuses when it comes to fitness.”
Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell said, “We do have some awesome challenges through our community, but nothing is as important as fitness.”
“Anytime we have the opportunity to really emphasize fitness, we need to,” Luttrell said. “All we have to do is walk around, and we can see the adverse effect of non-fitness.”
Renee Frazier, executive director of the Common Table, said it’s time for an addendum on the city’s slogan.
“It’s important that people see the new image of Memphis,” she said. “Blues and barbecue is okay. But health and fitness is better.”
Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell speaks to a crowd Tuesday about the new adult fitness station in Audubon Park.
Here’s what the new fitness station will look like.
