Last week, the Buckeye, Larchmere and Woodland Hills neighborhoods each got a new public amenity courtesy of a host of community partners and a tenacious group of residents that make healthy living priority number one.

About 15 residents make up the Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Initiative of the greater Buckeye neighborhood, which worked for two years to get Fitness Zones at East End Neighborhood House, 2749 Woodhill Road, Fairhill Partners, 122 Fairhill Road, and the at the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority's Woodhill Community Center, 2491 Baldwin Road.

"It's really a labor of love," says Erica Chambers, HEAL coordinator for MetroHealth Medical Center. "It took a while to get it here."

Each fitness area features highly durable and rugged resistance training and cardiovascular equipment such as elliptical machines, leg and chest presses and recumbent bicycles, all of which is outdoors and specifically designed to handle the elements. The three installations are also adjacent to kids' play areas, so moms, dads and caregivers can get in a workout while their wards play.

Chambers recalls the project's inception. The Buckeye HEAL walking group was out scouting new routes when they came upon an outdoor gym installation in a suburban park and instantly became interested: How can we get this sort of stuff into our neighborhood?

With that challenge before them, the group reached out to the Trust for Public Land (TPL).

"From there, everything was kind of a go," says Chambers, adding that the HEAL group can take pride in the accomplishment. "They can say, 'You know what? People live here and they do care.' They actually got together. They organized. They learned a lot about this legislative process and how to work with the city and build partnerships and what an investment can look like when you bring the right people to the table to listen to the community."

TPL eventually coordinated the three Fitness Zone projects. Funding partners include the Saint Luke’s, Reinberger and CareSource Foundations, and the MetroHealth System. Saint Luke's granted $250,000 toward the approximately $300,000 project.

While Cleveland's weather is not exactly the same as that of sunny Muscle Beach in California, area fitness enthusiasts will no doubt enjoy pumping iron amid the elements.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for residents who often do not have access to top quality equipment to be engaged in physical activity," says Chambers.

While the new installations will bring immediate benefits to area residents, they may have broader implications across Ohio.

"We've done these across the country," says Kim Kimlin, TPL's Ohio program director. "These three sites were our pilot for Ohio."

TPL will eventually commission a research agency to conduct a usage evaluation of the Buckeye installations, which will determine the future of TPL's Fitness Zone program in Ohio

"W are particularly interested in underserved communities," says Kimlin, "where people don't have access to free exercise equipment. One of the great advantages of (a Fitness Zone) is you can get same workout you would get at an indoor gym, but it's free and its accessible to public."