Milwaukee Works Out
Schlitz Park goes the extra mile
Downtown office center integrates wellness amenities
Date: Friday, July 20, 2012, 5:00am CDT
Barb ZaferosResearch Editor- The Business Journal
Michael Boehmer of Salus Inc. works with an employee of a Schlitz Park tenant.
When employees in offices at Milwaukee’s Schlitz Park go to work in the morning, wellness opportunities come with the territory.
Whether it is the convenience of getting a workout and shower in before work, continuing a lunch meeting on the treadmills, or receiving support for a healthier lifestyle, the tools for tenants are right outside the office door.
“We started about a year-and-a-half ago to re-concept what we need in an urban office park,” said Schlitz Park developer Gary Grunau. “Urban centers are where companies are coming to locate again. They’re finding out that is where the talent is.”
What began in 2010 with the rollout of a bike-friendly program in conjunction with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, including bike parking stations and monthly bike tune-ups, has evolved into a major health and fitness initiative targeting the needs and wants of tenants within the office park campus.
The three large building “pods” in the park have been transformed to LEED certification, and at the beginning of 2012 construction began on two fitness centers, now up and running, that include shower facilities and private wellness rooms.
The centers, in the RiverCenter and Bottlehouse buildings, opened to “raving success,” said Grunau.
“We are outfitted as well as any health club in town,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone do it to the extent we’ve done it here.”
Lucas Richmond, who works at Gilbane Building Co., is one of the center’s regulars.
“When they built these workout facilities I was excited that now I had the chance to work out at my lunch break and spend another hour or more with family, which really means a lot to me...and in turn, makes work less stressful.”
A third fitness center is planned.
“The barrier is gone,” said Briana Boehmer, director of wellness and fitness services for corporate wellness firm Salus Inc., Delafield.
“They say ‘I’m here, I’m going to do it.’”
Boehmer and her husband, Michael, both world-class athletes, began Salus Inc. five years ago after coordinating corporate wellness programs for eight years before that. And now they are part of the Schlitz Park story.
“We started thinking a couple of months ago we wanted to go a step further,” said Grunau, which prompted talks with Salus to provide wellness services for tenants.
Tenants were surveyed first to create a program based on their feedback.
“We want to set an example. You can’t just throw something out there and get it to stick. The survey was to understand the Schlitz community, and what people were willing to do,” said Briana Boehmer.
Salus offers free consultations two days a week at the park to assess overall health and talk about goals. There also are fee-based services, including coaching and advanced testing.
“When people are given the opportunity, they realize you are here to help and it just snowballs,” Boehmer said. “Being able to relate to someone is important, to be that mentor to them.”
Also in the mix is a new eatery. Schlitz Park Cafe: Creative Dining and Catering by Davians, complete with an outdoor plaza area on the river, opened this summer to enthusiastic reviews for its wholesome, healthy menu options, including locally grown produce from Growing Power, Milwaukee, and a 411FIT online technology option where people can find nutritional values and determine if choices meet their needs. The system integrates everything that’s going on, said
Boehmer.
Being a part of the Schlitz Park community means getting in on some major park-sponsored events as well. Just last month top cyclists were on site for the Schlitz Park Criterium and on the same day a diverse crowd of runners and walkers of all ages and skill levels took on the Schlitz Park Miler.
And in September a tenant team canoe challenge will be contested in conjunction with the Milwaukee River Challenge crew race scheduled to take off and end at Schlitz Park, which Grunau noted serves as a winter training facility (an area called the “Fight Club” inside the Bottlehouse building) for many area rowing teams.
“We want to be activity central,” said Grunau. “With big shortages of qualified skilled help in this country and Wisconsin, it is important for employers to have healthy employees, more engaged, more creative and who show up for work a lot more. This program gives employers the help they need to attract and retain workers.”
And it has helped Schlitz Park, owned and managed by Brewery Works Inc. since 1983, attract businesses as well, with “four or five” new tenants just since starting the program.
With health care reform issues on the horizon, Boehmer said “it will behoove companies to make a concerted effort toward innovative, out-of-the-box programming” available to their employees.
Up next for the 45-acre park is the development of an outdoor “vita course,” a running/walking loop that includes exercise stations, scheduled for construction in 2013.
“We’re taking it to the next level. It is cool and it is working. People love it.” Grunau said.
Lucas Richmond...“When they built these workout facilities I was excited that now I had the chance to work out at my lunch break.”
What’s Your Routine?
LOCATION: Schlitz Park, Milwaukee
OFFICE PARK EMPLOYEES: 4,300
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
Bike-friendly campus
Two fitness centers (a third is planned) including shower facilities; open 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays; free for tenants only
Salus Inc. available by email and phone for wellness assessments and consultations, on-site appointments 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays
Schlitz Park Café: Creative Dining and Catering by Davians offers healthy menu choices for grab-and-go, made-to-order or catered at offices and meetings
FUTURE ADDITION: A one-mile outdoor “vita course” for tenants and the public scheduled for construction in 2013