DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
A year since its closure, Fort Providence residents will soon have access to an improved fitness centre.

The newly revamped Fort Providence Fitness Centre located in the Nahecho Keh Centre could open as early as this week. All new equipment was purchased for the centre as part of a three-year pilot project the hamlet and Deh Gah School have been participating in. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The Fort Providence Fitness Centre located in the Nahecho Keh Centre is unrivaled in the Deh Cho, said Nicholas Richard, the hamlet's recreation co-ordinator. The centre has all new equipment including treadmills, ellipticals, weight machines and free weights.

"It's a great resource for any community," Richard said.

"We have enough equipment that anyone can go in there with a little bit of information and it should help them if they want to get stronger, lose some weight or live a healthy, active lifestyle."

Fort Providence has had a fitness centre for approximately seven years, but it has been closed since late June 2013 when renovations began on the Nahecho Keh Centre – the community's recreation centre. The new equipment was purchased at that time.

The improved fitness centre is linked to an ongoing pilot project in the community. Now in its final year, Deh Gah School has been part of a three-year collaboration with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and Sports Canada – a division of the federal Department of Canadian Heritage.

The intent of the project has been to discover if having a physical literacy co-ordinator in the school will result in the students being more physically active on a daily basis. The department and Sports Canada provided $125,000 a year for three years to fund the project.

The hamlet has also received $25,000 each year through the project. The money was for the purchase of equipment for the fitness centre because the school will use the facility as well. It will also support having the University of Alberta's Play Around the World program come to the hamlet, said Ian Legaree, the department's director of sport, recreation and youth.

The department's intention is to continue the project in Fort Providence for at least another three years past the end of March, providing Sports Canada can still contribute funding. Talks are currently underway, Legaree said.

The improved fitness centre could be open as early as this week. The hamlet is currently seeking input from residents on the hours they'd like to see the centre open.

The goal is approximately 10 hours a week, Richard said. That could be split between mornings, evenings and possibly lunch hours depending on when community members think they will use it the most.

There is also expected to be a small monthly membership fee that will help pay for hamlet staff to supervise the facility and so residents have a sense of ownership in the centre.

The reopening of the fitness centre has been highly anticipated, said Patrick Kippax, the school's physical literacy co-ordinator. Kippax said he was receiving one to two calls a week while the centre was closed from people who were looking for a place to work out.

A lot of the calls were from men, because the school was focusing on students and Kippax has also been running a group fitness class for women.

"There are definitely a lot of people interested in what we're trying to achieve with the fitness centre," he said.

The centre has something for everyone. It has the resource for young people who are looking to lift weights or for people who want to improve their stamina as a way to get ready for the yearly fire crew fitness tests, Kippax said.

"It's pretty nice. I think it's going to change a lot of people and their involvement in fitness," he said.

Kippax has already seen a change in the attitudes in the community. People are becoming more conscious of the importance of being more physically active and healthy, he added.

Kippax will be available as a resource for people who need advice on how to get started or use the equipment at the new centre. He can also suggest training programs targeted for specific goals like weight loss.

Deh Gah School contributed approximately $30,000 from the pilot project funding to support the fitness centre. The hamlet was unable to provide exact figures on the amount it spent.