It’s been more than two years in the making and but on Wednesday morning Vancouver Park Board officially opened the city’s first accessible age-friendly outdoor fitness facility at Memorial South Park.

“We are all getting older and we can stay fit the entire time,” park board commissioner Tricia Barker told the crowd eagerly waiting to try it out.

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Back in October 2016, park board commissioners passed a motion directing staff to look into potential locations to install senior-friendly exercise equipment in local parks. Former commissioner, and current city councillor, Sarah Kirby-Yung brought forward the motion after she was approached with the idea by a group of active seniors that regularly meet at the park.

After consulting with the public, a year later park board staff came back with a report recommending the board approve establishing the outdoor fitness facility at Memorial South Park.

Surveys distributed during public consultation showed 97 per cent of respondents supported the idea of a new fitness area at the park. And a large crowd of seniors were at the park Wednesday morning to try out the equipment.

“This is good for everybody,” said John Bal, a member of the tai chi group that meets daily in the park who first approached Kirby-Yung about the idea.

The new area at Memorial South has a number of pieces of fitness equipment that seniors, or people of any age, can use regardless of any physical limitations. It includes: assisted row/push up bars, cardio stepper, two tai chi wheels, two hand cyclers and a sensory walking path with handrails.

Barker, who also works as a personal trainer for seniors and people with terminal illnesses, in addition to her role as a park board commissioner, stressed the importance of staying active as you age.

“I can understand the benefits of this type of work for seniors and what it can do to really help our aging population,” she said of the addition to Memorial South Park.

“A muscle cell doesn’t know how old it is, so that means an 80-year-old muscle cell can still get strong.”

Nine other parks in Vancouver have some form of outdoor exercise equipment — China Creek, Douglas, Fraserview, Kitsilano, Memorial South Prince Edward, Second Beach at Stanley Park, Slidey Slides and Tisdall. Tisdall, however, is the only one that features equipment that is considered “age friendly.”

The seniors’ population in Vancouver continues to grow, by 2041 the number of residents aged 65 to 74 is expected to increase by 79 per cent and the population of people over the age of 75 is forecasted to go up by 105 per cent.

@JessicaEKerr

jkerr@vancourier.com