Holts Summit approves fitness circuit for Hibernia Station Park

Submitted photo

Equipment installed at Rock Island Park in Eldon is similar to what is planned for Hibernia Station Park in Holts Summit.
Submitted photo Equipment installed at Rock Island Park in Eldon is similar to what is planned for Hibernia Station Park in Holts Summit.

Named after an old railway depot, Hibernia Station Park in Holts Summit is about to add a few new stations.

This time, instead of climbing aboard a train, people will have a place to get more exercise.

The Holts Summit Board of Aldermen approved the installation of a fitness circuit along the park's walking trail during a work session at the end of February. The circuit will consist of several stations, each with a different design allowing residents to get different workouts in during their stroll around the park.

Ashley Varner, healthy communities coordinator at Capital Region Medial Center, orchestrated the project and hopes it will be finished by the end of April.

Varner said the costs for the stations will be paid for largely through the Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. The mission behind the grant is to reduce childhood obesity by 5 percent in the next five years.

Varner said the grant will pay for the equipment and shipping and will chip in on the installation cost with the city as well. Total costs likely will be $10,000-$20,000 for four to six stations.

"There's tons of research as to why physical activity is obviously good for you and your mental status and your physical anatomy," Varner said. "But it also binds families together, you know - there's reduced substance abuse, there's reduced all sorts of things."

Hibernia Station Park is next to North Elementary School, but Varner believes families from Callaway Hills Elementary School also will use the equipment.

The stations will be placed at different locations along the roughly mile-long trail, creating places to strengthen the community as well as muscles, Varner said.

"We don't live in a society where people sit on their front porch anymore," Varner said. "We don't even talk to our neighbors hardly anymore. And so if we can provide meeting places that provide support for health and wellness, it's just another really good way to connect with other community members.

Holts Summit City Administrator Rick Hess said the project is an exciting way to improve the city.

"I think it's a positive all the way around, I see no downside to it," Hess said.

Holts Summit is working on other plans to upgrade, Hess added, including a community garden managed by area Master Gardeners and water bottle-refilling stations within Hibernia Station Park, both of which are part of the Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities grant.

Michele Griswold, CRMC's healthy communities coordinator for Miller County, said another set of stations similar to those planned at Holts Summit at Rock Island Park in Eldon show these projects can be successful.

"It's used a lot," Griswold said. "You can't just put it someplace and expect it to go crazy; I think you really have to let people know it's there and advertise it."

The four stations at Rock Island Park cost nearly $15,000, according to information from Griswold.