TRC opens new fitness center, designed for classes

Three Rivers College unveiled its new fitness center for students and community members alike.

The Center is part of the Bess Activity Center and is designed for class fitness. There are classes scheduled for throughout the day. These include yoga, Zumba and several different martial arts.

The current line up for classes is yoga, Zumba, body sculpting, line dance/body sculpting, accessible yoga, tai chi, stretch/sculpt and refit. In addition to those classes, which are taught by TRC instructors, there is also tae kwon do and ninjutsu classes, which are taught by members of the community trained in the subject area.

Jeremy King, who teaches tae kwon do, said he thinks the space will work out well for his classes because it’s a nice, clean facility that leaves open different options for his classes.

“I couldn’t ask for anything nicer, to be honest,” King said. “It’s a multi-use facility so we can do anything we want in here.”

Mike Dineen, who teaches ninjutsu, agreed with King that the new facility is going to work out well for his classes.

“This is a great way, I think, for Three Rivers to connect with the community,” Dineen said. “A lot of people come here, they’re seeing the campus for the first time or they’re students and this is an additional enriching experience for them, or they’ve been here for years and they’re like ‘this addressing something I’d like to share with my family.’”

The project to make the fitness center was prompted by a donation by Ben and Martha Bidewell in 2003. Both have been involved with TRC as Ben served as a trustee from 1966 to 1972 and Martha was a founding member of the TRC Foundation Board, which she served on from 1982 until she passed away in 2012. When the college built the Libla Family Sports Complex, the college was given the opportunity to reinvent the fitness center to address changing needs.

Chad Casey participates in a yoga class at the TRC Fitness Center on Thursday afternoon. DAR/Michael Shine

Mary Libla, head instructor at the fitness center, worked closely on the space during its renovation into a studio. She said they needed to find a careful balance between calm and motivational for classes such as yoga, and not “too feminine” for the men who take the classes.

The walls have been painted blue with full-body mirrors hung on them. Libla said for the motivational part, she wanted quotes on the walls. A reception area has been added near the door with a black curtain separating that space from the workout space. Along the back wall is racks for yoga mats and other storage for the supplies needed for the classes.

Libla said it will be used by students taking her lifetime fitness class next semester. For that class, the students will take a two classes at the fitness center each week. It’s designed to allow students to explore the different kinds of fitness they can use.

“They’re not stuck taking a 8 a.m. Monday, Wednesday fitness class,” she said.

The students in the class will just need to sign in at the front desk of the fitness center and check that they’re doing it for a course.

Libla said most students have taken weight training classes, which some respond to, but that isn’t the kind of fitness that attracts everybody. Similarly, she said not everybody is going to be attracted to yoga or dance. The goal of the class is for these students to experience the other fitness options.

“The only way you’re going to stick with fitness is to find what you like to do,” she said. “That’s different for everybody.”

The Center is not limited to just those students, however, any student is able to take the classes offered. Students and community members who aren’t taking Libla’s class can sign up through a continuing education program where they’d pay a monthly fee to take as many of the fitness center classes as they’d like. The fee is $37.50 a month for unlimited classes.

Those who are interested in trying a class are welcome to, Libla said, before starting a membership. That way they can see if it will be for them before committing money.

Libla said she’d like to find an instructor for a 6 a.m. class, but otherwise they’re not looking to expand past the classes currently offered Monday through Friday.

The facility offers classes at different times Monday through Friday with the earliest being 8 a.m. yoga three days a week and the latest being ninjutsu, which ends at 9 p.m. one day a week.