What’s in, what’s out, what’s right for you.

Before we start, let’s get one thing straight: we’re talking trends here, not fads.

At the Recreation Center of Highland Park Fitness Club, we’re always researching, learning, and implementing the best of the current health & fitness trends, so you can work out efficiently and get the results you want. Starting in 2020, through 2021, and into 2022, we offered a wide range of unprecedented programs that kept you moving, breathing, stretching, and getting stronger. Smaller classes. Outdoor classes. Hybrid classes. Online classes. All designed and run by our expert instructors, with changes and updates to keep the workouts interesting, and keep you motivated.

After a full summer of family activities, this fall is the perfect time for you to get back to your personal workout routine, and we’re ready with a combination of classes, equipment, and instructors to help you be healthy, fit, and happy!

Here’s what’s happening now in fitness centers around the world and right here at your Rec Center Fitness Club. 

Wearable Technology. This has been high on the list of every survey for the past seven years, and it’s the #1 trend for 2022. Activity trackers from all the major brands—including Apple,® Garmin,® Polar,® and Fitbit®—are on everyone’s wish list. There’s a tracker to fit any budget, and different ones are rated best for running, swimming, cycling, and strength workouts. These devices track a wide range of activities and help you monitor daily steps, calories burned, heart rate, blood pressure, and even your sleep habits. All of those are important to your overall health, and in 2022 more people are using wearable technology inside and outside the gym. What about fitness apps? The surveys say more people prefer to wear their fitness trackers on their wrist throughout the day vs using a smartphone app.

Fitness facilities, including your Recreation Center, are fast becoming the new community center and an important place for social networking. We talked with dozens of our members over the past few months, and what we heard over and over was that working out at the Rec Center simply made you feel happier. Office workers have shifted to remote work, and their time in the gym not only improves health and relieves stress, it’s where so many of you look forward to face-to-face interaction with a supportive community. At-home workouts have been popular, but training with an instructor and other fitness enthusiasts offers a completely different experience. So, while we still offer hybrid and online classes, we all look forward to welcoming you back to in-person training in our safe, friendly environment.

Let’s talk specifics. There are a number of fitness trends that have moved up in the rankings this year (and some that are not as popular as before). Here’s a bit about the ones at the top of every list:

• Strength training with free weights. We have a dedicated strength training area at the Rec Center, and we’ve certainly seen the growth in popularity with our members. What does it do? Simple: It helps you become stronger. Why is that important? For basic daily activities like keeping up with your kids and carrying groceries. For athletes, it builds endurance, speed, and power. It increases your metabolic rate and helps burn lots of calories. Strength training can lead to better balance, help you manage weight, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and is proven to improve bone density. It can also help to control stress and anxiety. Talk to our staff and see if a consistent strength training routine is right for you.

• High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has been among the top-rated exercise programs for almost 10 years. It involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest. A HIIT fitness regimen is also in line with the move towards shorter workouts of 45 minutes or less. Try a class and see why it continues to be so popular.

• Personal Training includes fitness testing and individualized goal setting. You work one-on-one with a trainer as they develop workouts specific to your personal fitness needs and goals. Training this way got a boost recently due to online availability but is now moving back into the Rec Center where it is truly more personal. Find out more.

• Stretch and Recover. Recognized as excellent preventive fitness for all athletes, to minimize time away from the game and regular workouts, this is now de rigueur for post-injury exercising. Stretch and recover programs include Yoga, which also offers an increase in strength, and helps stress management.

• Outdoor fitness programs. While walking, hiking, and running have been popular for decades, organized outdoor fitness classes led by our dedicated instructors are so much more fun at The Preserve of Highland Park, surrounding the Recreation Center. Three seasons of beautiful flora and fauna put you in an atmosphere that just can’t be duplicated. It’s a fitness experience quite unlike any other.

What’s new this fall? Here are just a few fun fitness programs we’re super excited about.

KidsClub (formerly KidFit) is back! Our safe and fun childcare services let you concentrate on your fitness routine while you’re at the Rec Center. KidsClub membership options include unlimited childcare, use of the beautiful indoor pool, and lots of open-gym time. Learn more about KidsClub.

Adult Full Court Basketball. Hey ballers…want to get in an energizing game with your friends and neighbors before going off to work? Gym times are being set up now for the fall. Don’t miss out—join the Rec Center today! Learn more about Open Gym.

Indoor drop-in pickleball. You asked for it, you’ve been waiting for it, and we are thrilled to offer it! Stay tuned for the days and times that play will be available. Drop-in for a daily fee, get a 10-play pass, or save on every game with a Recreation Center Fitness Club membership. Looking for a Pickleball League? We have them. Are you new to Pickleball? We have lessons! Read more here.

Wiggle Time is coming this October. Get out of the house and give your little ones room to play on our beautiful basketball courts. We provide balls, scooters, and lots of other fun equipment for kids to enjoy. Stay tuned for more information!

Stages Studio Spin – Indoor cycle enthusiasts will be blown away by our newest boutique experience at our Fitness Club. Stages Studio Pro Plus Cycling combines top-of-the-line indoor cycle bikes used in premier facilities across the globe along with exciting color-based interactive visual group display, music videos, and more. This experience levels the playing field for everyone to individually maximize their ride, feel good, have fun, and achieve goals. 

If you have any questions, contact Jodi DiTomasso, Fitness Manager, at jditomasso@pdhp.org

With over 700 acres of land, 45 parks, four beaches and nine facilities, the Park District of Highland Park is one of the largest and certainly one of the most diverse districts in Illinois. 

View a summary of the Park District’s progress in 2021, in our Annual Report. 

The Park District of Highland Park begins construction at Park Avenue Boating Facility to replace the Breakwater and Boat Ramp as planned on September 6, 2022. Construction hours will be 7 am to 4 pm Monday – Friday. The anticipated reopening of the new Park Avenue Breakwater and Boat Ramp is Spring 2023.

During the project, the concrete and sand ramps will not be available. Communication has been sent out to our boating community, providing launching options through the remainder of the season. Boat launching is not allowed on the North Beach at Park Ave.

Pedestrian access is permitted from the sidewalk on the west side of the Water Plant during construction. Vehicles will not have access to the Park Avenue Boating Facility south parking lot on weekdays beginning September 6, 2022. Non-boater vehicle access and parking will only be available at the North Beach parking lot.

Learn more about this project.

The Park District is participating in a Morton Arboretum study to treat and track the health of declining oak trees at Heller Nature Center and Sunset Woods Park.  A total of eight District trees (four white oaks and four red oaks) are part of the ongoing study. According to the USDA Forest Service, management solutions are urgently needed to cope with the large number of oak trees that are declining in our nation’s forests. The Park District has been working to address oak decline since 2019 and has a tradition of strategically planting new trees in our parks.

Learn more about the threat to native trees in the United States.

Blast off!

The iconic Rocket Ship playground for 5-12 year-olds is now open for play! Visit it today at Sunset Woods Park! (1801 Sunset Rd) An interpretive sign at the playground tells the story of the rocketship’s importance to the Highland Park community. The playground is adjacent to a new nature-themed playground for 2-5 year-olds and a new seating plaza which opened earlier this summer. The seating plaza was funded by the Parks Foundation of Highland Park.
Stay tuned for an official grand opening event of the playgrounds and seating plaza announcement coming soon!

Thank you for your patience throughout construction!

Watch a short fly-over video!

At the August 10th Board Meeting, the Park District of Highland Park Board of Commissioners gave approval for an unexpected and necessary replacement of the Centennial Ice Arena rink floor.

During regular annual maintenance in June, staff uncovered an unknown issue on the Centennial rink floor. The Park District acted swiftly to conduct an exhaustive investigation of the facility and ice flooring system with an engineering firm. The findings confirmed that the building is structurally sound. However, the rink floor had been compromised and requires complete replacement.  

The rink floor emergency replacement project is estimated to cost approximately $1.5m. The Park Board awarded the project to Ice Builders, Inc, headquartered in Liverpool, New York. Ice Builders has completed several successful ice-skating rink installations in the Chicago area, including the Glenview Ice Center and Skokie Skatium Ice Rink, and successfully completed a project for the Park District of Highland Park at Centennial in 2003. The Centennial project begins immediately and will take approximately six months to complete.  

During the project, Centennial Ice Center will remain closed. This is very disappointing for our Park District, our participants, and the community. Our top priority is to deliver essential recreation programs to our community safely. To this end, we have several options for our skaters:

Off-Ice Programs – Students can improve athleticism by working on flexibility, core strength, balance, and jump techniques to enhance their on-ice performance. Programs will be held this Fall at the Recreation Center of Highland Park. Learn more and register.

On-Ice Programs – We have partnered with the Winnetka Park District to provide Learn-to-Skate programs for our skaters this Fall at the Winnetka Ice Arena ( 490 Hibbard, Winnetka, IL). The Winnetka Park District is also generously extending resident rates to Highland Park residents for their Fall Learn-to-Skate programs. Learn more and register for Winnetka Learn-to-Skate classes.

On-Ice Hockey Programs – Looking to learn how to play hockey? Register for on-ice programs with the Falcons. Contact Nick Meo, Falcons Hockey Association, at nmeo15@gmail.com for more information.

An expeditious replacement of the Centennial ice rink floor is a priority for the Park District so we can reopen the facility for our skating families. We will keep residents and our Centennial ice participants updated on the replacement of the rink floor timeline and progress. 

In a separate but related project, bids were considered at the Park Board of Commissioner’s August 10th Finance Committee meeting to renovate the Centennial Ice Center lobby, multi-purpose room, locker rooms, office space, restrooms, and parking lot.  The contract award for this renovation project is expected at the August Park Board meeting, and construction is anticipated to start in Sept.

Find updates and more information on the Centennial Ice Arena Renovation and Rink Replacement projects.

The Park District’s gymnastics programs will continue to be offered at Lincoln School, located at 711 Lincoln Ave. Register for fall gymnastics classes.  

The Park District of Highland Park Board President Terry Grossberg delivered the following remarks at this week’s Regular Board Meeting:

Before we begin with our meeting agenda, I wanted to take a moment to comment on the tragic events of July 4 that shook our community to its core.  First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families of the seven victims, those who were injured, and everyone who was impacted by this senseless act. 

I want to thank the brave first responders who ran towards danger to render aid during this active shooter situation and the individuals who responded selflessly and put themselves at risk to care for others.  I also want to thank Highland Park, state, federal, and neighboring law enforcement agencies who assisted in the apprehension of the suspect, as well as the Mayor and City for keeping our residents updated and supported during the immediate aftermath and over the last three weeks.  We are also grateful for the support from the countless government partners, agencies and hundreds of volunteers who continue to provide ongoing victim resources and services to the survivors impacted by the tragedy on July 4.   

It is strong communities like ours that work together for our collective well-being. 

As I sit here tonight, surrounded by my fellow Park Board Commissioners, I would be remiss in not mentioning how proud we all are of our park district staff, for their emergency response efforts on July 4th, and how they have contributed to the healing of our community following this horrific tragedy.  

Along with so many of you, the Park District was there. As co-sponsors of the Parade, over one hundred of our employees, including our high school and college-aged camp counselors, full time staff, my fellow board commissioners, and many of our family members, were lining up the parade floats, marching in the parade, and setting up for the Fourth Fest celebration planned at Sunset Woods Park.

In the short days that followed, trauma counseling and other therapeutic resources were provided to support our team members who were in the thick of things, allowing us to re-open our facilities, and restart our programs.  Children are now back in camp making summer memories, and families are finding a much-needed respite in our parks, programs, playgrounds, and beaches.   

Over the past three weeks, the Park District has continued to persevere in effort to care for our staff and community by providing locations for community gatherings, volunteering for donation drives, providing scholarships and services for victim’s families, and most importantly, providing essential park and recreation outlets to the community — to aid in the healing process and gain back a sense of normalcy.  

July is National Parks and Recreation Month. How fitting that this year’s theme is “We Rise Up.” That is exactly what our Park District is doing – Rising Up to help our community heal and bring back joy and hope.  On behalf of my fellow Board members, I would like to thank all Park District staff for your compassionate hearts and your passion for serving and supporting our community.

Together, we are Highland Park Strong. 

Words cannot express our heartbreak and mourning for the seven victims of the July 4th shooting. Our hearts go out to their families and all the families affected by this utter senseless act of violence. Along with so many of you, the Park District was there. Over one hundred of our employees, including our high school and college-aged camp counselors, were lining up the parade floats and entertainment, marching in the parade, and setting up for the Fourth Fest celebration in Sunset Woods Park. What should have been a day of community celebration became, as Mayor Rotering so solemnly put it, “the bloodiest day in Highland Park history.”    

More importantly, she is correct in saying that this will not define us as a community because we are Highland Park Strong.

It is strong communities like ours that work together for our collective well-being. In a matter of seconds following the shooting, we came together as a community to provide aid and refuge for each other – helping children find their families, warning people to run, and protecting our loved ones.   

We will forever be indebted to the quick actions of our police officers and fire rescue who ran toward the danger as we all did our best to help each other escape to safety. And in the immediate aftermath, our City, County, State, and Federal officials came together in droves to protect our community and, within hours, had the suspect in custody. Our school districts and local social service agencies quickly joined the ranks to facilitate counseling services for our residents. As your Park District, it is our job to provide recreational outlets for our community’s mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing – especially in critical times like these. Yesterday, our Park District opened several of our facilities, and today all facilities are open for regular hours and pre-registered programs are taking place as scheduled.   

We understand parents are anxious to get their children back into our summer camps because they can provide a positive outlet from this week’s tragedy. And we are eager to have them back at camp as well. However, we are respecting those young camp counselors who were also in the thick of things on July 4^th to give them extra time to prepare themselves to return to camp. We are proud of these young people and working closely with them and their families with counseling services and other resources, so they are ready to provide a much-needed recreational outlet for our campers starting Monday.

We are grateful to be a part of such a caring and compassionate community. Together, we are Highland Park Strong!

The Park District of Highland Park has provided generations of residents with cherished memories of first teams, first friends, and first jobs. The parks are places to gather with friends and family, spaces to celebrate life’s special moments, spots of respite and healing, sites that connect us with essential community services, and so much more.

For Parks and Recreation Month, we are reaching out to our residents to share their cherished memories and stories about what the Park District means to them. 

If you have a favorite Park Story you would like to share, please email nwong@pdhp.org.

“In the summer of 1975, I was working as a lifeguard at Rosewood Beach. I had to stop by my manager’s office, where I saw a very attractive college girl being interviewed. She was hired to work as a cashier at Rosewood.  It took me the entire summer to work up the courage to ask her out on a date. We have now been married for over 43 years.”

Todd Keil

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“I was awarded part-time seasonal employee by the Park District on two occasions during my camp counselor years. It is one of the greatest honors to this day because I was SO happy in my youth there and was happy to give back to other kids. From ballet classes as a 4-5-year-old with Mrs. Ettlinger to working the Rec Center desk with Gilda and Marsha Schramm in college, I really never left but for a few tennis camp summers up at Ripon College. A delicious memory is the nature guy Marc Bard’s “Sunset Stew,” that we all made, ate and loved. I think the recipe is still in my mom’s tin holder in my cabinet.”

Barbara Meldman Rosenberg

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“I attended Sunset Park Day Camp and played Little League and Pony League baseball at Sunset Park through the summers of 1964-1970. I worked for the Park District from 1974-1981. As a coach, the privilege and opportunity of sharing baseball knowledge and life lessons I had learned to young men between the ages of 10-13, all flavored with the spirit of having fun and embracing the enjoyment of the game, made the opportunity of coaching Park District Little League baseball rewarding and unforgettable. To Chuck Schramm, Bruno Sommenzi and Tommy Inman, I am forever grateful for life lessons learned.  Not to be forgotten are coaches Mike McKillip and Bruce Frichie for their unforgettable roles as well.”

Neal Swire

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“I fondly remember those yellow and blue t-shirts from Sunset Day Camp.  I loved the Sloppy Joe’s that were served on special occasions. When I was a teenager, I taught tennis at Centennial Park and Red Oak school. I rode my bicycle with baskets filled with tennis balls. Nothing was as much fun as going downhill on Half Day Road. Going home was another story, but I didn’t care. I loved teaching tennis. As an adult, I volunteered clearing buckthorn and collecting seeds under the supervision of Rebecca Grill, director of Natural Areas. In 2012, she helped me get a summer job with the maintenance crew under the direction of Ted Baker. I loved driving old truck number 60 and its big water tank as I commuted from park to park taking care of the annual beds. I was between corporate jobs at the time and the work was very satisfying for so many reasons.”

Karen M. Finerman

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“I played in the Park District Little Leagues ‘till I was 10.  Then it was the pool all the time. Lots of laps at Twin Pools. As a 19-year-old, I umpired the men’s’ 16” softball league every Tuesday and Thursday night at West Ridge Park. As you can imagine, I wasn’t very well received by the “men” who played. They didn’t like a 19-year-old making the decisions, I guess.”

Marty Zimmerman

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“….Honestly, I figured I’d have a couple things to say, but as I thought more and more about how much time I spent at the Rec Center and Sunset Park, I realized how much the Park District did for me.  And at this moment, having already written over 1700 words, I am realizing that I haven’t even touched on the Twin Pools, the beaches, ice-skating lessons and free skate at Sunset Park.  WOW!”

Julie Neff Encinas

Since 1985, America has celebrated July as the nation’s official Park and Recreation Month. Created by the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), Park and Recreation Month specifically highlights the essential and powerful role that local park and recreation agencies and their professionals – play in building stronger, more vibrant, and resilient communities across the country.

For 113 years, the Park District of Highland Park has been an integral part of this vibrant community providing connections to open space and recreational programs, promoting health and wellness, and improving our residents’ physical, emotional, and mental health.  

Today, the Park District manages over 800 acres of parkland and natural areas. According to NRPA, 260 million people in the United States visited a local park or recreation facility at least once during the past year. More than seven in 10 U.S. residents have at least one local park, playground, open space, or recreation center within walking distance of their homes. In Highland Park, 90% of our residents are within a ten-minute walk to one of our 45 parks – a benefit that only a small percentage of communities in the United States can tout.

Living close to parks and other recreation facilities is consistently related to higher physical activity levels for adults and youth. Moreover, parks provide a connection to nature, which studies demonstrate relieves stress, strengthens interpersonal relationships, and improves mental health. In the U.S., 93% of adults say their mental health is improved by services offered by local park and recreation agencies. The Park District of Highland Park provides over 3,000 adult and youth programs annually, including art, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, dance, childhood enrichment, fitness, golf, ice skating, nature programs, pickleball, tennis, and more.

Park Districts also continuously create job opportunities for full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions. This summer, the Park District of Highland Park has employed over 287 young adults and teens in important positions for the community and as a jumping-off point for their careers.   

This July, we are bringing attention to how important it is to rise up and support the field of parks and recreation because every day, park and recreation professionals rise up for their communities in service of equity, climate-readiness, and overall health and well-being.