Community Gym Project

Following opening of the Recreation Centre in 2017, feedback from the community consistently expressed aspiration for a gym facility to be incorporated into the precinct. In 2022 the Shire of Boddington undertook community consultation to determine the level of support in the community for the Shire to establish a Community Gym, as well as clarify local expectations of how the facility would operate. Subsequently Council endorsed its in-principle support of the Community Gym concept, and external funding opportunities were pursued. In May 2023 the Shire was advised of a successful funding outcome with Lotterywest which enabled the project to proceed during 2023-24.

The Community Gym was established as a health and wellbeing initiative for residents to exercise unsupervised with commercial grade equipment to allow for both cardio and strength/weights training. It also increases accessibility to indoor exercise opportunities, as the closest gym facilities are located in Armadale (95km), Pinjarra (75km) and Narrogin (82km).


Boddington's Community Gym Name has been Decided!

The chosen name, selected by a community vote, was BoddFit.


Community Consultation 

Residents within the Shire of Boddington were invited to participate in a survey to share their level of support for the proposal during 2022. Local providers of group fitness and personal trainers services within the Shire of Boddington were engaged with a targeted invitation to participate in the survey to gauge their level of support for the proposal, as well as identify opportunities to collaborate and add value to their existing businesses. A further opportunity was made available in 2023 for the community provide input into the selection of equipment.


Project 

During 2023 the Boddington Pavilion changerooms was repurposed into a Community Gym. The advantages of this included:

  • maximising use of an inactivated facility that is already co-located within the existing sport and recreation precinct;
  • meeting a current need in the community within a short-term timeframe;
  • suitability of the floor space consisting of two defined rooms that would effectively cater for cardio and weight lifting areas; and
  • external funding opportunities were available to recover the cost of equipment and other start-up expenses to repurpose the space.

The scope of refurbishment works to the Boddington Pavilion included:

  • upgrading the facility in line with current accessibility requirements
  • installation of CCTV
  • installation of access control to enable swipe card entry into the building for members
  • upgrading of shower and change facilities
  • converting Changeroom 1 into Cardio Room
  • converting Changeroom 2 into Weights Room
  • converting the existing Umpires Room into a Universally Accessible Toilet/Changeroom
  • upgrading the facility in line with current accessibility requirements
  • installation of temperature control


Project Timeline

17 February 2022 | Council endorse progressing to community consultation

11 April – 30 April 2022 | Consultation period undertaken

21 July 2022 | Council endorse support for Community Gym concept, subject to resourcing available in the 2022/23 budget

18 August 2022 | Council endorse Community Gym project in 2022/23 budget

October 2022 | Project components scoped and external funding application submitted

May 2023 | Successful funding outcome advised

August 2023 - January 2024 | Building refurbishment works

February 2024 | Community Gym Open


Funding Acknowledgment

The Shire of Boddington extends its appreciation to Lotterywest as a major supporter of the Community Gym project.