Keen Lau public fitness circuit opens at Ambleside Park

If you’re hankering to get in a round of pull-ups, sit ups or show off your skill on the monkey bars before a cool ocean plunge this summer, West Vancouver now has just the place.

The Keen Lau Fitness Circuit, a new public facility with a variety of outdoor fitness equipment, opened in Ambleside Park on April 30, just east of the Peter Sullivan Skatepark and the multi-use sports court.

This waterfront fitness circuit just up from the beach includes pull-up and parallel bars, sit-up benches, gymnastic wall bars (also known as a Swedish wall), a climbing rope, and other gym equipment. The equipment also includes a tricep press, shoulder press, and butterfly/reverse fly, designed to be accessible for people using wheelchairs or other mobility devices set into a rubberized surface.

Mayor Mark Sager led the buff and the brave in a run through of the equipment April 30, along with staff from West Vancouver’s recreation department.

The free public fitness circuit cost approximately $275,000 to build, with demolition of a previous storage building on the site and site preparation provided by Ledcor Group and $170,000 contributed by Park Royal, West Vancouver Foundation, and relatives and friends of late West Vancouver resident Keen Lau.

Sager, a friend of Lau’s, announced the project in May 2023.

Lau, a well-loved West Vancouver resident who was active in community endeavors and outdoor pursuits, drowned tragically a year ago in Cypress Creek while trying to save his dog Loki who had been washed into the creek.

Over the years, Lau volunteered with BC Mountain Foundation, B.C. Children’s Hospital and the HSBC sponsored First Nations Youth Rugby Clinic. He also worked as a ski instructor and ran for council in 2022.