One might not consider Civic Center park when looking for places to exercise this summer, but the Civic Center Conservancy is attempting to change that.
The conservancy — a nonprofit that looks to revitalize and enhance Civic Center park — is starting the Civic Center Moves program, which provides free exercise classes four days per week at the park. The program kicks off April 21 and is slated to run through mid-October.
The class times vary depending on the day, and four different organizations will be volunteering to run the free classes.
“We’re always seeking to activate Civic Center park,” said Civic Center Conservancy executive director Lindy Eichenbaum Lent. “Given its proximity to residents and businesses, it should be an amenity that is part of people’s health regimen.”
This is the first year of what Eichenbaum Lent called a pilot program, but Civic Center Moves really began last year when Denver Parks and Recreation started workout classes in the park two days per week.
Those classes were intended mostly for people working in the Wellington E. Webb Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave., but Denver Parks and Recreation spokesman Jeff Green said they had some people from the surrounding buildings also attend.
Denver Parks and Recreation will be hosting two classes on Tuesday afternoons — a yoga class from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and a boot camp from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
Since the Civic Center Conservancy is trying to activate the park and the groups running the classes are volunteering their time, Green said the conservancy is not being charged for their permit for the park. He added that the program fits in with the vision of the park, as both Denver Parks and Rec and the Civic Center Conservancy seek to change the image of a hangout for drug dealers.
“The theory behind anything in Civic Center park the last couple of years is to activate it, get more use and draw more legitimate use to it in comparison to the reputation it’s garnered as a hangout for nefarious characters,” Green said.
Pearl Street Fitness will be running a class from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays for a “full-body workout.” Co-owner Laura St. John said the class will be run by her husband, Scott, and they were grateful to be considered for the program.
“For us as a growing business, we thought it was an awesome opportunity to expose ourselves to new people,” she said.
The other groups hosting workout sessions include Im’Unique, which is holding a yoga flow class from 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays, and November Project Denver, which has a fitness tribe class from 6:15 to 7 a.m. Wednesdays.
This is the fourth program the Civic Center Conservancy has started to help bring more people to the park after Civic Center EATS, which brings out food trucks on Tuesdays and Thursdays for lunch, Independence Eve fireworks and the Bike-In Movie Series, which started in 2011.
“With Civic Center Eats right around the corner,” Eichenbaum Lent said, “It’s the perfect time to start getting in shape.”
Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc
