When Fuller Village, an independent senior living community in Milton, MA, planned their original fitness center, it was more than adequate for their residents’ physical fitness needs. Over the years, the demands on the fitness center grew as residents increased their physical fitness activities as part of living a healthy, active lifestyle.

Occupied construction in a retirement facility presents special challenges, every effort to minimize disruptions to daily routines and extreme care to ensure the safety of residents was exercised by every member of the construction team. The fitness center is in the center of the very busy community building and construction involved a common hallway used by elderly residents, some with physical limitations. Measures were taken by the Curtis project team to limit construction activities in the area during peak usage times and coordinated with the staff to keep residents informed about construction activities and schedule.

The existing fitness center’s men and women’s locker rooms were combined to make one locker room for the men. Two additions were built, one to expand the actual fitness center and the other to build out a women’s locker room. Existing plumbing, fire alarm, electrical, pneumatic and HVAC systems were replaced, expanded, and upgraded to integrate the new locker rooms, expanded exercise space, fitness studio and common areas. A new patio with gas fire pit was added to the new court yard for the resident’s enjoyment after their workout.

The current fitness center was expanded to better accommodate the varied physical fitness needs of residents. Curtis Construction started construction in October 2016 on a 5,000 sf addition designed by John V. Downie. This occupied new construction project included new locker rooms; dedicated fitness studio for fitness classes; state-of-theart fitness and weight training equipment area. The new space was designed to blend in with the existing building and required new foundations to be poured adjacent to the indoor pool facility.