Streete getting fit for the future

The local public were asked to vote on the name of the new Streete Parish Park community gym and ‘Streete Fit’ was officially opened by Minister Peter Burke on Friday week last.

The €65,000 project was backed to the tune of €50,000 in a grant from Clár and also received support from Westmeath County Council, but the main work was done by the ambitious team of volunteers at the parish park.

They had to match part of the funding in local fundraising, and also raised a further €10,000 to cover other costs – and they coordinated the work between March, when the grant was confirmed and this month, when the gym opened.

A major part of the work was preparing the mezzanine area at Streete Parish Park to accommodate the gym equipment, and to make sure it was shielded enough to protect the privacy of the users, but not to the extent that it would be completely hidden from view; it is important that people know it is there.

Kevin Brady, chairperson of the parish park committee paid tribute to the staff there and the volunteers: "There was an amazing amount of work put in by the community workers at the community centre, an outstanding amount of work, from our staff there – we have eight staff on the Community Employment scheme, and each one of them put in a huge amount of work to get to where we are today."

Membership of Streete Fit is according to strict criteria and subject to approval by the committee, and to ensure that, once members are vetted and approved, they can come and go as it suits, a modern access system, including cameras and electronic passes, has been installed.

The volunteer and staff teams worked with local contractors on the project, including Shertek, Mullingar on the access control system, Willie Campbell, electrician, and Gary Gilchrist, carpenter (who retired from the CE scheme at Streete).

At the official opening on Friday September 20 last, Minister Peter Burke performed the honours, and Fr Pierre Pepper blessed the new facility. Among the large gathering present for the event were local elected representatives and council officials.

Mr Brady said the new gym is another bonus to the local community and the parish park. "We’re hoping that it will bring in extra revenue. We’re hoping that it will encourage people, especially the younger people, to come out and get involved. We will have a youth fitness club, we have two qualified instructors who will be with us on a part-time basis."

The instructors will do the induction courses and once members are inducted, they can come and go as they want.

The parish park committee are involved in a number of fundraising events to further enhance the facility and an astroturf playing pitch is on their list of additions.

Filming for their Night at the OsKaRs event took place at the weekend, and the crews and cast members are looking forward to presenting their work at an event on October 19 at the Longford Arms Hotel.