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Weight room welcomes kids again
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Youths who want to pump iron are welcome back in the weight room at Seminole Recreation Center. But there are some provisions. In a Tuesday workshop, the City Council decided to change its short-lived age requirement for the fitness room, which contains a variety of exercise machines. Youths 12 to 15 are allowed to use the room as long as they are supervised by an adult. Teenagers 16 and 17 can work out on their own. Parents will need to sign a waiver for all kids 17 and younger who use the weight room. City Manager Frank Edmunds said the equipment in the weight room is worth $60,000. "We also plan to expand that room -- so there's quite an investment there," he said. But the rules are also for the benefit of the young teens who use the machines, Edmunds said. By requiring an adult to supervise their workouts, the city hopes to prevent injuries. When the recreation center opened in October, youths 12, 13 and 14 were allowed to work out in the weight room as long as they had adult supervision. But that changed last month when the city posted a sign outside the room saying no one 14 and younger was allowed in. Not even with an adult. Seminole Recreation Director Jim Sheets said no particular incident led to the new rule. It was simply an administrative decision to bump the minimum age requirement to 15, he said. But the news didn't go over well with Donald Workman, a member of the recreation center who had been using the weight room with his 12-year-old grandson. Matt Jones had paid a $75 nonresident fee so he could join the center to work out there. Workman said he has no problem with the city putting some guidelines in place for the weight room, but he didn't think they should be at the expense of youths, such as his grandson. "I'm real pleased," he said of the city's decision.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
