The PARC – which stands for physical activity and recovery center – recently opened up in the city.
The PARC is the newest piece in Blaine’s expanding entertainment district and management is ecstatic to be part of this coveted location.
“I call this the Times Square of Blaine, right here this area,” said Melissa Walton, The PARC’s General Manager. “In the next year or so it’s going to explode at kind of a cosmic level of just entertainment and athletic components with the baseball team coming in. Every time we see a bulldozer we get excited.”
“It’s something we’ve been looking at for many years but now it’s actually happening,” said Chris Schulz, President of The PARC. “The fact that we get to be here at the beginning of something special that’s coming about, it means a lot… Blaine is something very special to us and we want to grow in Blaine.”
Schulz and Walton teamed up to create The PARC – which has a unique approach to fitness and well being.
“The vision is something I’ve always had in mind with The PARC,” Schulz said. “Physical activity and recovery center.”
“This is unique in the sense that we’re offering that three-pronged piece of it,” Walton said. “The group fitness classes, the cardio strength center and then the wellness center.”
“The community hub”
The PARC’s mission is to create a hub for fitness, longevity and the ability to decompress from the daily grind.
“This is a place where we can help adults just relax,” Schulz said. “Slow life down a little bit. Seek out wellness.”
“We have a variety of offerings,” Walton said. “We wanted to kind of cover the spectrum from everything to yoga to hit classes and strength and core.”
This facility is basically a one-stop shop for fitness and wellness.
“Everything’s under one roof,” Walton said. “That’s why we call it the hub. The community hub.”
The PARC’s focus is on young athletes and grown ups.
“We have people coming in here who are in their 60’s and wanting to just start with this type of therapy,” Walton said. “We have people who are 17 and have been doing this for a few years before that.”
Both Walton and Schulz are excited about the PARC’s cold plunge and fitness area.
“The PARC really it’s sauna, cold plunge, cardio,” Schulz said.
Schulz believes the combination of cold plunge and sauna is a good way for people to test their limits.
“With the cold plunge at our place you have a sauna that’s literally five feet away,” Schulz. “So if you are freezing cold you get out and hop in the sauna and go back and forth. Contrast therapy is something not enough people are talking about.”
Schulz has been a fixture in Blaine for a couple decades. He started AKA Sport, which is based at the National Sports Center and began in 2004.
