JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
The Joint Base Andrews West Fitness Center is being renovated.
Renovations will include a new front lobby with an aesthetic update and new windows to reduce energy costs, newly stylized locker rooms with new lockers, a new heating and cooling system, new equipment for the tactical fitness room, refinished basketball court floors and security cameras to accomidate 24-hour access to the facility.
"You have to be prepared with market research, and be willing to spend," said Isaac Melendez, Complex Director for the West Fitness Center. "We want to provide the best possible experience for our patrons, so when leadership gives us the green light, we update our facilities with the cutting-edge of fitness and athletic equipment. A fit Air Force is an effective Air Force."
The updates are being funded partially by the base's recent awarding of the Commander-in- Chief Installation Excellence Award.
"We won the CINC award because we're top dogs," Melendez said. "Our facilities are directly benefitting from the hard work Team JBA puts in every day."
The center provides service to the entire National Capital Region with both its indoor and outdoor facilities, including: baseball fields, a turf field for soccer, multiple running tracks and basketball courts, both indoor and outdoor, and new batting cages to be built behind the scoreboard of the present baseball fields.
The West Fitness Center has also been recently updated with Wi-Fi.
Group aerobics classes such as cycling, Zumba, yoga, Korean martial arts, Salsa and the West Fitness Center's signature Tactical Fitness Class in the tactical fitness room are offered at the facility.
Upcoming events will also be facilitated at the current facility: a Sept. 4 "Run for your lungs" 5-km run, the beginning of intramural-league flag football on Sept. 7 and a Nov. 19 Turkey Trot.
For more information regarding classes and events, call the West Fitness Center at (301) 981-7101.
"We're lucky to have such great clientele," Melendez said. "We feel appreciated here; there's no feeling like keeping the Air Force fit to fight."