Three Fitness Centers Open at Camp Pendleton

CAMP PENDLETON, CA -- Three new fitness centers are coming to the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton, CA, base.

One new fitness facility project will break ground in the next few months at Camp Horno. It will include a functional fitness room with a variety of training tools, such as medicine balls, kettlebells and bands, according to Bryan Driver, Policy and Public Affairs Branch, Personal and Family Readiness Division, HQMC.

The 23,000-square-foot building will include two concrete outdoor functional fitness training pads at each end of the facility. Driver says each pad will include separate, custom pull-up bars and a variety of other functional fitness equipment. The center also will feature a large weight room, two racquetball courts and a gymnasium. A $5 million construction contract for the project was awarded to Soltek Pacific Construction Co., San Diego.

Another Camp Pendleton project slated to begin construction in late 2010 will be called the Las Flores Human Performance Center. The 23,000-square-foot facility will include a 14,000-square-foot functional fitness room, a 3,000-square-foot multipurpose room and an outdoor functional training area surfaced with concrete, sand and decomposed granite.

“This design will deviate from the fitness centers that have been built in the past,” says Driver. “At this facility, Marines will be able to better train like athletes and ultimately perform better at CFTs [combat fitness tests], their daily jobs and activities, avoid training ruts and injuries, and be better prepared for combat.”

Soltek also recently finished construction on a $6 million fitness center at Camp Margarita in Camp Pendleton. The 25,941-square-foot facility includes a variety of fitness, strength and functional training equipment, as well as a functional training room, weight room and cardio area.

Group fitness classes at that facility will include survival cycle, yoga for combat athletes and combat circuit. The center also has a gymnasium, basketball and racquetball courts, lockers, showers, saunas, laundry, and administrative support areas.

For the Camp Margarita project, Soltek received a STAR Contractor Safety Award that recognized its safety awareness record during project execution.

Watch for a feature story on other military fitness projects in the November issue of Club Industry magazine.