A new outdoor fitness court is now open in Weirton's Marland Heights neighborhood, giving residents free access to a full gym setup that once required a paid membership to use anywhere else. The Weirton Park Board unveiled the facility Thursday afternoon at Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Park, adding seven exercise stations to a park that has anchored the neighborhood for more than a century.
According to wtov9.com, the project is a partnership between the National Fitness Campaign, city government and the park board, and the station reports the equipment will be available to the public at no cost. The same report puts the project's cost at approximately $210,000, though earlier planning had described a different funding structure. Per the Weirton Daily Times, the city had expected to receive a $30,000 grant from the National Fitness Campaign and cover a $145,000 local match, a figure also cited in a June report from the Herald-Star.
A Decade-Long Push for the Historic Park
The fitness court sits at the back of Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Park on land that once hosted a sand volleyball court, the Herald-Star reported. The park board had worked to improve the historic site for 10 years, and the National Fitness Campaign first approached the board about the project back in 2020. Along the way, the board reportedly had difficulty convincing city council and others of the project's potential community benefit, before Mayor Dean Harris, who championed the effort before taking office, helped push it forward.
Mayor Harris said investments like this one matter for a neighborhood that lost its pool because of its condition. "these types of projects will continue to grow this park and grow this neighborhood and grow the city," he said, according to wtov9.com. The equipment reportedly arrived in Weirton in June, with construction running from July through September before Thursday's unveiling.
Seven Stations, Seven Minutes, No Membership Required
The Fitness Court model, launched by the National Fitness Campaign in 1979, is designed to provide a free full-body workout in seven minutes outdoors, the Herald-Star reported. Up to seven exercise zones cover squats, core work, pushing and pulling movements, lunges, agility drills and bending exercises. A companion smartphone app connects users to a network of other Fitness Court locations and training programs, letting them check in and claim prizes as they use the equipment.
The National Fitness Campaign has said it aims to install similar courts across the country by 2030, according to the University of Charleston, which opened its own court on campus offering the same free, seven-minute full-body workout. West Virginia now has four such facilities, including ones at the University of Charleston, West Virginia University, and Moundsville's East End Park, where the City of Moundsville unveiled its court in October 2024 with help from a National Fitness Campaign grant plus sponsorships from WVU Medicine, The Evan G. Roberts Trust and EQT Corporation.
Fitting Into a Broader Recreation Push
Weirton's new court is part of a wider set of recreation investments in the city, which include a new pickleball court at the same park and improvements to the Millsop Community Center. City administration also has ongoing plans to renovate Starvaggi Memorial Pool, a nod to a longer local tradition of community fitness projects that stretches back to a walking trail installed at Starvaggi Memorial Park in 1971, among the National Fitness Campaign's earliest community efforts, per the Herald-Star.
