Children’s fitness playground opens

The grand opening of the Children’s Fitness Park brought cheers and squeals as the ribbon was cut by more than a dozen local children along side Chaplain (Col.) Kenneth Revell, senior post chaplain, Col. Timothy Faulkner, Fort Huachuca garrison commander, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation employees and Child Development Center employees.

“We built this park for a few reasons, one because you children are so special because your moms and dads serve their country each and every day. We want you to be fit and be strong,” Faulkner said. The park took just under 12 months to complete.

“Another playground was opened last week for Fort Huachuca’s Exceptional Families. This is a testament of our dedication to our Soldiers, their families, civilians and especially the young great children we have here at Fort Huachuca,” Faulkner added.

“In addition to the playground we have new benches, picnic tables, trash receptacles, water fountains, batting cage and there are other bits and pieces through the complex that have been upgraded within this year,” said Dr. Roxanne Chancellor, Coordinator at Child, Youth and School Services.

The children will be able to enjoy it for years to come and the military deserves to have the best that we can offer them, Chancellor said. One playground goer, Lillian Bryant, 5, said the new park is “awesome, because I like it and it has a big slide!”

“One of the biggest pushes in the United States right now is to take care of our obese kids and have them lose weight, and this park is a great incentive for kids to exercise,” said Eddie Beck, Youth Sports director.

“The running wheels are like working out on a elliptical trainer but they’re actually doing it outside. We also have a lot of the fun things kids love to do. We have monkey bars, a slide and it’s a great place to come work out,” Beck added.

“This is a great place — little kids can learn to play hopscotch, older kids can learn to do drills and team work things, so it’s a great place to come and hang out and have fun with your family,” Beck said.

The park is part of the CYS Services Sports Complex, located on H Street. The design is ExerPlay. The playground was officially finished two months ago.

Annie Rodriguez, 7, and Anare Robinson, 6, help each other take a spin on the new Children’s Fitness Park. Rodriguez said her favorite part of the playground is helping people and the spinning thing while Robinson likes the monkey bars, the slide and it all!

David Gonzalez, 7, plays on one of the new machines in the new playground that opened on post Friday. He thinks the new playground is “awesome!”