When spring and summer arrive, we are fortunate to live in Janesville - Wisconsin’s Park Place. It’s more than just a marketing slogan; it is a claim with solid data to back it up. Anyone who wants an active lifestyle has an astounding number of opportunities available within the city to do just that, many of them at no cost. And when it comes to staying healthy, the community is also fortunate to have a variety of healthcare providers with innovative services that support health and wellness in a variety of ways. In the spirit of fitness, let’s take a walking tour around Janesville to explore how health and wellness are promoted in the city and some of the options that are available to residents. To acknowledge the city’s commitment to an infrastructure built for healthy living, we’ll begin at 18 North Jackson Street. First Stop, City Hall Residents oftentimes take their own city’s highlights for granted, with the classic example being New Yorkers who have never visited the Statue of Liberty. But while Janesville residents certainly appreciate and use the local park system, they may not realize just how unique and special it is – and has always been. “We have a long history,” says Cullen Slapak, Parks Director for the City of Janesville. “It kind of started back 100 years ago with John Nolen. He was a renowned landscape architect. Janesville hired him, as did a lot of other places [like] Madison, to put together a plan for them. From that plan, [the land for] Riverside Park was purchased back in 1923. It’s been a commitment through all these years to provide those types of activities for the community.” According to data on Forward Janesville’s Community Dashboard, Janesville has 39.4 acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents. That number is nearly four times the national average of 10.4 acres per thousand. And per research compiled by the Healthy Rock partnership, more than half of Rock County residents - 56.5 percent - live within a halfmile of a park. That is 15 points above the state average and a whopping 25 points above the national average. Janesville’s commitment to parkland includes a provision that new subdivisions include playgrounds. Wisconsin’s Park Place, indeed. “Neighborhoods have parks, but then we also have community parks like Bond Park and the four regional parks,” Slapak says. “You don’t see that range of parks in other communities. Janesville has tried to stay with that model of providing neighborhood parks, so people don’t have to go a long way to have open space.” The city’s commitment extends to an active schedule of maintenance and improvement for the land and facilities. Recent additions include “The PUMP,” a 35-acre mountain bike park at Palmer Park that came together in partnership with the Janesville Velo Club and Michael’s Cycles, as well as the new aquatic center. The new facility will feature a 5,000 square foot pool with an aquatic play structure, zero depth entry and limited lap lanes. There will also be a new building to house admissions, concessions and restrooms. The expected open date is June 2025. According to Slapak, the city tries to replace one or two playgrounds on an annual basis. “We’ll be working on replacing [the] Peace Park [playground] at Rockport Park, hopefully in 2026,” says Slapak. “That’s going to be a big project for us. Our focus is maintenance, keeping things safe, updating what we have, and continuing the overall good quality parks and recreation system we have in Janesville.” Second Stop, the Outdoor Fitness Court From City Hall, we’ll take a short walk to the corner of River and Court Streets, where the Outdoor Fitness Court sits next to the Ice Age Trail and the Rock River. This seven-station fitness area came about thanks to a partnership between the City of Janesville, the National Fitness Campaign, and SSM Health St. The Road to Health Janesville as a wellness city By Jim Lyke For many of us, winter in Wisconsin is the time of year when we spend our time indoors and our most strenuous exercise involves a snow shovel. But the arrival of warm weather stirs a renewed urge to get active and focus on our health and wellness. We have a long history…[that] started back 100 years ago with John Nolen. It’s been a commitment through all these years to provide those types of activities for the community. Schneider Farm Park, one of Janesville's sixtyfour improved parks The Janesville Parks System Plan by John Nolen, 1920 6 | FORWARD JANESVILLE
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