When plans for the Edward Shock Centre of Elgin were being put together two decades ago, city officials had three goals for the fitness facility: it should bring residents downtown, give them a place to gather and promote healthy lifestyles.
If you ask Murna Hansemann and Anna Stuehler, it’s been a big success in doing all of that and more.
The two met while walking on the Centre’s indoor track when it opened 20 years ago and forged a friendship that’s kept them coming back almost every day since.
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“I wouldn’t come if I didn’t have someone to come with,” Hansemann said. “I’m not at all disciplined. If she wasn’t here, I would just sleep in. She’s been a blessing in my life.”
Hansemann and Stuehler were among those who gathered Saturday for the Centre’s 20th anniversary celebration, which included a 2-mile family fun walk, time capsule burial, food trucks and a free open house with costumed super heroes and princesses mingling with the guests.
Speaking during a ceremony to recognize the milestone, Mayor David Kaptain said building the complex was the largest urban redevelopment project in the city’s history. Its location at 100 Symphony Way was to be the cornerstone for the northern part of downtown and planning started long before ground was ground was ever broken, he said.
“There was a lot of work that had to be done,” said Kaptain, who served on the planning committee when he was president of his homeowner’s association.
“It was critical at that time to have community input,” he said, and the experience taught him that getting the community involved was the better way to undertake public projects.
“This was not a slam dunk to do this building,” the mayor said. “There was a lot of expenditure. It was scaled back to fit the budget. The community was not all in favor of it.
“The idea was not just to develop a sports complex for people to come and work out. It was to bring people to the downtown and help energize the city’s redevelopment.”
There were some mistakes made along the way. One was believing the Centre would pay for itself, he said.
“That did not happen,” he said, but the Centre is like a park. “Lords Park does not pay for itself and Wing Park does not pay for itself.”
The cost is well worth it because the complex has become part of the fabric of the community and, over time, he’s seen the “hidden benefits that don’t show up in the bottom line,” he said. Elgin residents use the Centre for its programs, to work out and to meet friends.
“The benefit to the city of Elgin is priceless,” he said.
Hansemann and Stuehler, both now in their 80s, are a perfect example of what the Centre signifies, they said. The two use the free, second-floor track regularly and now know a lot of the other people who do the same.
“This is the most wonderful gift to our community,” Hansemann said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
