Audubon Park gets a makeover and a workout
The $1.5 million campaign to clean up Audubon Park is about to get beefed up. Thanks to the City’s year-long partnership with Procter & Gamble, the 373-acre park will be receiving an adult fitness zone equipped with a push up station, a chin up station, an elliptical, a cardio walker and several weight machines.
Common Table Health Alliance, Memphis’ health and health care improvement collaborative, facilitated the funding deal. CTHA has been engaged with Procter & Gamble’s new wellness brand, Meta, for over a year. Together, they hosted wellness workshops, health fairs and education seminars focused on making minor lifestyle changes to lead to better overall health.
“I think Procter & Gamble wanted to find a city that had some level of health disparity but, more importantly, I think they wanted to go to a city that had a game plan and blueprint for how to make citizens healthier and happier and embrace health and wellness on a greater scale,” said Chris Owens, Director of Development and Community Relations for CTHA.
The outdoor gym is expected to open late this summer. Audobon’s revamping, however, will continue until 2019. The upcoming changes include paving the Park Avenue entrance and parking lot, a new playground, new trail markers, water fountains, picnic tables, benches and trash cans. The project, which began construction last September, is covered through general obligation bonds.
“We’ve been working in a close partnership with the City of Memphis and the Division of Parks and Neighborhoods to make sure the adult fitness zone fits into a strategic plan and larger vision for Audubon Park. It will be a key component of what it will look like going forward,” Owens said. “(The adult fitness zone) will increase traffic in Audubon Park and increase utilization of the different areas that are in the park.”
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