The Zeeland Community Recreation Center has gone from zero to 600 in about 15 months.
The 20,150 square-foot center, which opened in November of 2008, has proven to be a popular attraction in the city, and closed out the month with well over 600 members.
Zeeland Recreation Director Mike Kolean said 659 memberships were sold in January, compared to 489 in January of 2009, representing about a 35 percent increase over last year.
“We knew there was a need based on what we heard from the community, but we didn’t think it would be this well received in this short a period of time,” Kolean said. “It’s exceeded all of our expectations as far as numbers. And we have a real diverse number of people using the center, from high school kids to senior citizens.
“It goes to show that people recognize the benefits of exercise and health.”
When the center opened, all of its cardio training and weight training equipment was located in the 1,400 square-foot fitness room on the center’s first floor. After just a couple of months, Kolean had already added more cardio equipment, and was using the 2,400 square-foot Studio B upstairs for an overflow area.
Last week, he added several more pieces of cardio equipment to meet the growing demand. The rec center now has 12 treadmills, 14 elliptical trainers and five recumbent exercise bikes.
“We have the best of both worlds,” Kolean said. “The fitness center pretty much fits the needs most of the time for our participants. When it doesn’t fit the needs, at our peak time, the overflow can go upstairs. It gives the members an option of where they want to go, and they do not have to wait for a piece of equipment.”
Also in the fitness center are more than 20 pieces of circuit training equipment, free weights and a series of dumbells, ranging in weight from 10 to 100 pounds.
Jeff Langejans of Zeeland has been a member at the recreation center since January of 2009. He said the center gets busier in January and February, but has never had trouble finding a piece of a equipment on which to work out.
“I’ve never had too much of an issue. There are so many other things you can do if you can’t get on a machine at a certain time,” said Langejans, who has lost more than 70 pounds since he began working out regularly last year. “There’s always something open or something available.”
The recreation center is connected to Cityside Middle School and its aquatic center, which offers two swimming pools for recreational programming. At the beginning of February, the recreation department began offering combined fitness center and swimming pool memberships, which allows the members unlimited access to both.
Kolean thinks the aquatic center can help relieve some of the pressure on the fitness center.
“If one day they want to work out in the fitness center and one day they want to swim laps, they can do that,” Kolean said. “Our feeling is that we can offset some of those big numbers (in the fitness) center by offering the pool as a substitute.”
Kolean admits that some of the 659 members are what he called “resolutioners,” those who make a New Year’s resolution to drop a few pounds, but may lose interest after a couple of months. Still membership is running higher than expected, and at some point the center may reach its capacity.
“We would need at least another year to evaluate it. We didn’t think we would get to 659 individuals this fast,” Kolean said. “At some point, we’ll have to refocus and relook at things. But for the most part, we are hearing nothing but positives.
“Everybody that we have talked to has been really excited about it and has really enjoyed it.”
Including Langejans, who said he enjoys the layout and the look of the building. He and his wife, Cindy, also enjoy the price of the fitness center. There are no membership dues, no initiation fees and no contracts, and for residents of the Zeeland Public Schools district it costs just $30 a month for a fitness center membership. A membership for the pool is extra, or it can be paid for on a per-use basis.
“I think it’s been fabulous,” Cindy Langejans said. “We hear more and more people talking about it. I think the word is getting around, and the price is a huge thing.”
The rec center, 320 E. Main Ave. Zeeland, is open from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
