The Mike Daniels Recreation Center has reinstalled gym equipment and a turf field for the community to use after the former group that had the equipment left Oct. 31, 2017.

“What we’ve done is we’ve taken a useable space and turned it into Troup Fit, which is for the taxpayers of Troup County. We were serving some and this space went away, and we had some people requesting it to come back, so we decided to open our own facility, and it’s been amazing,” said J.J. Kuerzi, who oversees facilities at the recreation center. “We have fitness equipment. We have free weights, cardio equipment and fitness equipment. We also have a large turf area that members can use, as well as we will be doing speed and agility training and group fitness on there with Clockwork Performance Training.”

With the new equipment, the center has also seen a rise in interest from the community.

“Last year, we sold 21 memberships in the month of January. To date, I’m up to 135,” Kuerzi said. “So people are very anxious to come back, and they’re enjoying it.”

The center took a week after Christmas to put in the new equipment for the facility. It has been well used ever since, according to Cajen Rhodes, the parks and recreation director of Troup County.

“Our numbers have been good just in the short time that we have been open. We opened back up on Jan. 2 and started making it available for use and the foot traffic that we’ve seen come through has been very encouraging,” Rhodes said. “We’re hoping that this is a trend that continues throughout the course of the year.”

Rhodes said acquiring workout equipment also simplifies the membership fees to work out at the center. The membership gives access to the pool and basketball court along with Troup Fit.

“I think it provides a choice for the public, I don’t think we’re necessarily a health club if you will,” Rhodes said.

“We certainly don’t have the amenities that a health club has, but we definitely offer a choice that’s valuable for people in the community to make a choice, so we’ve got the turf section and then we got a ton of workout equipment.”

Kuerzi said the recreation center is meant for everyone in Troup County.

“It’s a nice feeling when you have previous members coming back saying ‘Oh we’re glad to be home. We’ve missed being here and we love what you’ve done with the place,’” Kuerzi said. “We’re doing a great job. We’re manning it ourselves, we’re providing friendly service and a family environment.”