First-of-its-kind in Montgomery Village fitness park opens at Watkins Mill Recreation Area

The Fitness Park at Watkins Mill Recreation Area, 19501 Club Lake Road, opened officially to the public on Saturday, July 8, once Montgomery Village Foundation received a final permit from Montgomery County. A Grand Opening/Ribbon Cutting event will be held on Friday, July 14, from 5 to 6 p.m.  Parking is available at Stedwick Elementary School, 10631 Stedwick Road, if you’d like to join us to celebrate this new unique park amenity which is open to all. 

The updated amenity has an emphasis on fitness with an exercise path, and outdoor fitness equipment with a fabric shade structure and overhead lighting. Adjacent to the fitness space is a playground for our younger residents. Montgomery Village Foundation (MVF) is excited to bring this new amenity online!

The fitness park is open for use during daylight hours and at night when lighted. Only the lighted areas of the park are considered open for use at night. The lights are operated on the following schedule: from October 1 through Memorial Day until 10 p.m.; from Memorial Day through September 30 until 11 p.m. 

A major discussion point for the MVF Board of Directors in 2019 was the repurposing of the former Watkins Mill Pool site. By repurposing the site, it allowed for the creation of a new amenity for better year-round utilization of the Watkins Mill Recreation Area. After an extensive community input phase, the Board of Directors approved repurposing the site to an outdoor fitness space in February 2020.  The major components of the project included the demolition of the existing building and pool facility, necessary site work, installation of required stormwater management facilities, relocation of the existing playground to be adjacent to the outdoor gym, planting of required trees and shrubs, installation of a path connecting the entrances to the amenities, addition of a four-foot-high fence around the perimeter of the park, installation of a utilities building, installation of other site furnishings, and the creation of the fitness space.

This project was partially funded via a state bond initiative where MVF received $700,000 toward the overall cost of the project from the State of Maryland, Department of Natural Resources Program Open Space. MVF worked with Keller Brothers, Inc. to repurpose this site.