In what could be mistaken for a protest, a crowd of about two dozen faculty, staff and students, some toting signs reading, “Follow us for fun and fitness,” gathered at the corner of Front and Walnut streets in downtown Wilmington Dec. 17 to walk an inaugural lap around a new student-designed fitness course that twists through Cape Fear Community College’s downtown campus.
The trail, almost one mile in length, was planned by the community college’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter, an international honor society for two-year colleges. Donning a suit and sneakers, Phi Theta Kappa Chapter President Billy Koch snipped a satiny blue ribbon stretched across the sidewalk in front of the college’s administration building and invited the crowd to start moving.
Honor society members meet with senior administration each year to plan a project that improves the college experience and furthers the college’s mission statement. During a spring 2014 meeting, Koch said honor society members were asked to fulfill a missing element of campus life at the community college.
“We don’t have a gym here. The other college down the road has a gym, a really nice gym, but because of our location and our infrastructure, we don’t have one,” Koch said.
Inspired by the challenge of the school’s location, honor society members decided to create an urban trail with outdoor exercise equipment scattered along its path — an undertaking they soon learned required more planning and fundraising than originally anticipated.
The project was split into two phases. A mini-grant from the Cape Fear Community College Foundation allowed the group to map out the path, which loops down to Water Street and up through a courtyard beside Union Station and weaves around the Hanover Parking Deck and the Schwartz Center in a figure eight from Walnut Street to Hanover Street. A series of 12 signs directs pedestrians along the way.
The trail will expand to encompass the area around the new fine arts building after construction is complete, kicking up the distance to a little more than one mile.
One piece of outdoor exercise equipment costs about $800, Koch said. To complete the second phase and bring equipment to the trail, honor society members attended a grant-writing workshop to apply for funding outside the college system. Koch hopes to purchase and install the equipment by the end of 2015.
Koch said the trail, an avenue for students to engage in physical activity and connect with the campus, is an asset for the community college.
“The college’s mission statement is to retain students. You can’t retain students if they’re not happy, if they’re not fit. We think this is a great way to do that,” Koch said.
Local citizens and visitors are also welcome to hit the trail, Koch added.
“This is a great way to get out and experience the whole place,” Koch said. “Anyone can use this course. We encourage anyone and everyone to come and use it.”
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