(12.13.18) The Skokie Valley Trail added another unique feature last week to its ever-expanding path from Lake County to Chicago, with the Skokie Park District installing an exercise station along the trail, just south of the Dempster Street Yellow Line Station on Terminal Avenue.
The fitness equipment, installed on a concrete pad surrounded by a grass parkway next to the trail, includes apparatus for the following exercises:
- Two-Person Chest Press
- Combo Lat Pulldown and Vertical Press
- Assisted Pull-Up
- Assisted Push-Up
- Dips
- Knee Raises
- Parallel Pull-Ups
- Pull-Ups
- Sit-Ups
- Leg Raises
- Plyometrics Steps
“With our commitment to fitness and to outdoor pursuits, this project seemed like a natural fit, not only for Skokie residents, but for regional bicycle and walking enthusiasts,” said Susan Aberman, president of the Park District’s board of commissioners. “We offer our sincerest thanks to the Village of Skokie for allowing us to implement this project.”
The Village and Park District entered into an agreement in November 2017, in which the Village granted a license for the Park District to access, install, repair, maintain and replace outdoor fitness equipment on the Skokie Valley Trail, along Terminal Avenue between Conrad and Greenleaf Streets.
“The Village invested in developing the Skokie Valley Trail to provide the community with another outdoor fitness option,” said Mayor George Van Dusen. “This exercise equipment complements the trail, and the Village board is pleased to partner with the Skokie Park District on this new amenity that further enhances quality of life in Skokie.”
The section of the Skokie Valley Trail that runs from Oakton Street to Dempster in Skokie was completed in 2012. The Trail’s bridge over Touhy Avenue into Lincolnwood and then into Chicago opened in October 2018.
The Village of Skokie continues to plan to extend the trail north from Dempster to the Old Orchard area. The trail now intermittently spans the distance from Foster Avenue in Chicago to Lake Bluff, 23 miles to the north. Bike and walking enthusiasts ultimately envision fully connecting a series of existing paths from Chicago to the Wisconsin border, a dream that has been coming closer to reality over the past 15 years, as north shore communities steadily continue to fill the trail’s gaps.