SIDNEY -- The doors to the new fitness center named the "Training Room" were opened to the Sidney community Tuesday with a grand celebration Tuesday afternoon.

Mike Namuth, director of the Cheyenne County Community Center, said the Training Room is the result of a community survey and the board of directors pursuing what was most valued.

"The board of directors began a process back in July of 2022 for strategic planning for the Community Center. Out of that process they went through, they engaged with a consultant to come in and look at our building, look at our current operation, and determine what was good, what was bad. They conducted a community survey that was completed in April 2023, and we got the results of that in the first part of June of that year," Namuth said.

He said the top issues according to the survey included fitness, day care and an aquatic center.

"The board decided to take action immediately, and in July (2023) we negotiated a contract on this building, and closed on it in mid-September," Namuth said.

Purchasing the building then led to how to use it; what will the new fitness center look like.

"When we purchased the building, we engaged a consultant in Fort Collins does this kind of stuff ... that's what their business is," he said.

The facility has a wide variety of fitness opportunities from treadmills and stationary bikes to free weights. 

Construction began on the new location and officially opened January 29. He said the work took about four and a half months.