PVHS starts on Water Valley medical fitness center

WINDSOR – The newest phase of the Water Valley development in Windsor got under way Feb. 12 with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Poudre Valley Medical Fitness Center at Marina Health Campus.

Water Valley Land Co. President Martin Lind, local officials, Poudre Valley Health System representatives and others who helped make the project a reality put on hard hats and threw a few shovels of dirt to inaugurate the project set to open in November.

The groundbreaking marked the end of three years of effort by Lind to pull together a deal to fund construction of the $16 million facility, which will serve as the anchor of Water Valley’s Marina Plaza.

“There were so many times when a smarter person would have given up,” Lind told those assembled. “It was absolutely a team effort to get this done, and it was probably the hardest deal I’ve ever had to get done.”

Lind gave special credit to PVHS President and CEO Rulon Stacey. “Without a doubt, the catalyst on the other side of this was Rulon Stacey,” he said. “Everybody said when was the turning point for this, and I said it was when Rulon stopped screening my calls.”

Stacey, in his remarks, said the fitness facility – which will differ from a health club because of its trained medical staff on duty and focus on wellness – will provide a unique opportunity for healthy people and recuperating hospital patients to work out together.

“We’ve now started a project that’s going to take a giant step forward for Northern Colorado and Poudre Valley Hospital System to keep people healthy,” he said. “We are honored to be a partner with Water Valley and Martin to make a difference in the lives of the people of Northern Colorado.”

First in NoCo

The facility will be the first of its kind in Northern Colorado. C. Patrick Green, M.D., with Heart Center of the Rockies, will serve as medical director for the center.

“It’s medically supervised exercise by a staff that’s highly trained and motivated,” Green said. “The medical fitness facility will provide an opportunity to take a patient from a post-rehab setting to a place where they can exercise in a supervised setting.”

Everyone who uses the center will first have a fitness assessment to determine his or her best course of physical activity.

“There’s no doubt that exercise and physical activity make you feel better and live longer,” he said. “As a physician, I also believe in the saying that exercise is medicine.”

Rebecca Crocker, who will manage the center, said a pre-membership registration drive will take place this summer and will likely focus first on nearby residential areas but won’t be limited to those living close by.

“We’ll definitely draw from nearby areas but across Northern Colorado as well,” she said. “It absolutely won’t be limited to Water Valley.”

Crocker said membership fees have not yet been established but said they would “be very competitive with fitness centers around the area.”

The 66,000-square-foot, three-story structure that will house the Poudre Valley Medical Fitness Center will be the first building in the Marina Health Campus section of Water Valley, on the development’s west side next to a manmade lake.

In addition to exercise equipment, the building will have three indoor pools including a therapeutic pool, an aerobics studio and a steam room, and will offer wellness counseling, classes on health care, physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.

The building will be 51 percent owned by PVHS, which will operate the 19,000-square-foot fitness facility.

Marina Plaza is located adjacent to Water Valley’s Pelican Falls golf course. Additional plans for the development include medical office space, a hotel, restaurant, club house, retail space, class “A” office space, 42 patio lots and 28 condo units.

Fort Collins-based Dohn Construction is the general contractor for the center and Great Western Bank is financing the project.

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