Lockport Union-Sun & Journal — The community will be able to use the Lockport High School fitness center starting Nov. 1.

District officials decided Wednesday to open the fitness center to locals, as a result of the success Lockport had with the program last year. Athletic Director Patrick Burke said 353 signed up and were issued identification cards, which are needed to enter the fitness center and use the equipment.

Board of Education members decided to open the center to the public last January. Residents used the facility from Feb. 1 until May 24, typically three hours a night Mondays through Thursdays, for a total of 54 days. The fitness center was closed on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

The days won’t change this time around, meaning the center will be open for 87 days. That will feature an increase in cost, Burke reported to board members Wednesday.

Last year, the fitness center cost about $2,700 total to operate, roughly $180 a week. With 87 days, the increase would be roughly $1,200 more, an estimated $3,900.

Still, trustees were clearly in favor of opening the fitness center early. Board Secretary Jon Williams said he used the fitness center a number of times, as did other adults and students.

“It is a nice facility,” he said.

“There was a life, an energy there,” Trustee Edward Sandell said.

Burke did share a concern. Some of the equipment is in need of updating, the athletic director said. Board members asked Burke to put together options for replacing the equipment, including a possible leasing of machines.

While setting up the fitness center program last year, Assistant Superintendent for Finance Deborah Coder said the district met with its insurance provider about possible liability. That led to each participant signing a waiver, a risk assessment form, signifying the person’s doctor had OK’d it. The waiver is turned in to the high school or district office and an ID card is given to the participant. All participants must fill out a new waiver, even if they are a returning member.

There is a link for the fitness center on the district’s website. The required risk assessment forms are also available on the site.

Board members are expected to appoint fitness center supervisors next month.

Burke said a number of people participate in the hall walking program. Residents sign up like they would for the fitness center and are given the opportunity to walk around the first floor of the building in the evenings during the week.

The fitness center, located in the back of the Lincoln Avenue school, was one of the major additions from the $23.5 million project completed last year.