City Editor Anna here. I had the opportunity to test out the new Harrison Center experience, which incorporates the historic building’s long halls, stairways, galleries + gym into the structure of an exercise program.
Starting with a quick upper body warmup in one of the galleries, Tanner Hebel, a Harrison Center fellow who studied kinesiology at IUPUI, guided me through several exercises, which can be modified based on age or skill level. Standing in front of Nathanial Russell’s Memory Ghost series, I was able to work my back, arms + shoulders with resistance bands while contemplating negative space and texture.
Next stop: Karaoke Elevator. This functional elevator has a built-in sound system and touchscreen menu of classic hits. On the ride, visitors are encouraged to sing along to whatever’s playing — and they may even get to choose the track. To incorporate movement, I was instructed to do wall sits while we waited to arrive at our floor.
From there, we worked on our cores while strolling through a hallway with paper flowers hanging from the ceiling. We also had a chance to visit the terrace, which has a tetherball ready to go and unbeatable views of the city.
As if that wasn’t enough whimsy, I got the chance to zoom down the building’s indoor adult slide, which was as fun as it sounds.
Squats + lunges in the “Hi Ho Silver” group color show followed, accompanied by more resistance band exercises and commentary about the artwork. Each movement was specifically designed to tie in themes of the exhibits.
Did I mention the human hamster wheel? Needless to say, I was sore the next day.
Though not officially open to the public yet, you can reach out to schedule your own test experience with a group of friends.
