A new outdoor fitness court in western Shawnee allows visitors to do a variety of quick exercise routines for free.
On Thursday, Shawnee city officials cut the ribbon on the new National Fitness Campaign Fitness Court near West 48th Street and Monticello Road.
The park features a variety of bodyweight exercise stations, including core, squat, push, lunge, pull, agility, and bend.
The Shawnee City Council first discussed the park plans in March 2024 and approved them in March 2025. The fitness court replaces the Garrett Park Playground, which is being relocated and constructed at Garrett Park on West 47th Street, closer to the baseball fields.
The $160,000 is partially funded by a $40,000 grant from the National Fitness Campaign, while the remaining $120,000 came from the city’s “Parks and Pipes” sales tax.
The fitness court is meant for everyone
The free outdoor gym aims at helping people exercise with a quick seven-minute circuit at seven movement stations.
Everyone is welcome to participate, said Tonya Lecuru, Shawnee’s parks and recreation director.
“Garrett Park’s outdoor gym will promote pedestrian access and break down barriers to free outdoor fitness for adults of all ages, abilities and fitness levels,” she said.
In his speech before cutting the ribbon to the park, Mayor Mickey Sandifer noted this is only the second outdoor fitness court in Johnson County and sixth in the Kansas City area.
“I’ve been involved with the city for over 30 years doing things, and I was on the parks board,” Sandifer said. “This is the kind of thing that we talked about. This is what we wanted for the city, and this is what the city … told us that they wanted for themselves.”
City officials are excited about the possibilities for the park
While trainers were on-hand to help newcomers during the ceremony, anyone can access guides on how to perform the exercises by scanning a QR code that’s placed on the outdoor gym’s wall.
Trying out the equipment, Shawnee City Councilmember Jeanie Murphy said she noticed the wide range of ages that were participating in the exercises, from small children to adults.
“We’ve got multiple decades working out on (the same) set of equipment,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful.”
While Murphy noted that she has heard complaints about the exercise park replacing the playground, she said she believes that will die down once the new playground opens.
“I think once people get used to it, I think they’ll catch on and we’ve got a whole new playground for the kids, just in a different part of the park,” she said.
The park is part of big renovations to Garrett Park
The outdoor fitness park is part of $3.84 million in improvements to the 33-acre park.
The plans also include pickleball courts, a new children’s playground, updates to the ball fields and addition to make it compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act for both the park and its trails.
Those renovations are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Go deeper: Shawnee OKs $3.8M renovation of Garrett Park that includes new pickeball courts, fitness area
