Coolum school students can now fire up their fitness routines after the official opening of their new $46,738 exercise site.
Sport Minister Phil Reeves said the Bligh Government contributed $34,674 and the Coolum State School P&C provided the remainder.
“This has been a real community partnership with a shared focus on health and fitness,” Mr Reeves said.
“The exercise site is like an outdoor gym with nine pieces of equipment for stretching, balance, agility and strength exercises.
“Students are now using the exercise site for physical education and for after hours sports lessons.
“The school is also able to offer the use of the site to the wider community including other schools and clubs.
“There’s a series of equipment including a chin up bar, a sloped incline for sit ups and a stretching bar, with signs describing how to use each station.”
Mr Reeves said the project is funded under the Bligh Government’s Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Program which is providing almost $20 million towards upgrading or developing new facilities.
“As a government, we’re committed to developing more opportunities for Queenslanders to get active,” he said.
“School and local sports programs contribute to the local community by providing opportunities for kids to get out and be active, and hopefully form a lifelong habit of playing sport.
“They also provide encouragement for adults to become healthy whilst socialising within their communities.
“This project contributes to the Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland initiative of helping Queenslanders become Australia’s healthiest people by reducing obesity levels by one third by 2020.
“Developing sport at the grassroots right up to the elite level heightens our chances of hosting events, and reinforces our reputation as the Champions State and the Events State as well.****
“This is why we continue to provide support for programs which help people of all ages participate in sport and active recreation.
“The Bligh Government has made the tough economic decisions to ensure we can continue to support local sport and recreation.”
