Those who were concerned about the future of the weight room in the Estevan Leisure Centre can likely breathe a little easier.
The City of Estevan held an open house on May 2 to discuss the weight room, and whether it’s time to shift the focus to cardiovascular training.
As you would expect, the comments varied. Some of them were articulate and well-thought out. Some of them were not, and were seemingly based on inaccurate information circulated by an anonymous weight room user last month. Let this be a lesson regarding the importance of fact-checking before believing everything that is said.
And some people just seemed to have a hard time staying on topic, and brought up issues that had nothing to do with the weight room.
But their opinions were expressed at a meeting, in front of council and city management, rather than on coffee row or on social media.
The weight room is going to stay in its present form, and it will receive $100,000 in funding for new equipment. Those who use the weights will certainly be happy. Those who don’t will likely still be happy to see the status quo for the weight room.
The weight room has been an on-again, off-again issue since it opened in 1992 with the Leisure Centre. It was tiny when it opened, and while renovations over the years have helped expand the facility, it’s still a relatively small area.
But last week’s meeting brought up other issues. Cleanliness has been a problem. Weight room users talked having to use filthy towels or equipment.
There are also issues with equipment that will be broken down for some time. And there are some items not used by the clients that could be replaced.
Hopefully the issues brought up during the meeting will be followed up, with better communication between council and patrons. A sub-committee for the weight room is an excellent step forward. Hopefully it will offer a good cross-section of users, with those who are in there for lifting weights and those who use it for cardiovascular purposes.
We have no doubt that there will be significant interest in participating in this subcommittee. We hope that the interest will remain high for years to come, once people have forgotten about the possibility of shifting the weight room’s direction.
And hopefully the lines of communication between the city and weight room users will improve. A lot of people at last week’s meeting said they never received surveys and other correspondences on the weight room. A new subcommittee will help. So will printing off hard copies, as opposed to just relying on e-mail.
There has been a decline in the number of users of the weight room in recent years, as the number of gyms has increased in the community.
That doesn’t mean that the city should pull the plug on a weight room. The weight room is still a valuable part of the services the city provides at the leisure centre. For a lot of users, it’s the biggest reason they have a membership.
Take away the weight room, and you’ll lose memberships.
The city does, however, need to be cautious with money it spends in the weight room, just like anywhere else.
