Jane Messinger breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday afternoon.

“Literally, the mirrors were put up this morning,” she said.

Messinger was happy everything was ready for the ribbon cutting and grand opening of JFIT, the newly expanded fitness center at the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston.

“We hope you’ll all come here and use this gym,” Messinger, who is president of the JCC, told the approximately 80 individuals who had gathered for the ceremony. “And tell your friends.”

As people mingled before the official ribbon cutting, David Schwager, vice president of the Friedman JCC board of directors, said that when the new JCC opened in 2017, the space devoted to exercise equipment was not very large.

“It was like a hotel gym,” he said.

But demand grew, Messinger said. So when one of the center’s tenants opted for a smaller space after the pandemic, officials decided to move the JCC’s administrative offices into that space and devote the former office space to exercise equipment.

Giving a reporter a brief tour, Tom Shafer, one of several personal trainers at the JCC, pointed out a large selection of kettlebells and dumbbells, flat benches as well as inclined bench stations, a seated leg curl machine, equipment to work the inner and outer thighs from a seated position, treadmills, a stair climbing machine, elliptical trainer, a pull-up station and an Assault AirBike that increases resistance the harder the rider pedals.

That last piece of equipment is very challenging, he noted.

In his remarks to the group, Jim Gillespie, CFO/COO of the JCC, said the people who play pickleball at the JCC “have become a family,” and he foresees the gym users developing a similar camaraderie as they see each other on a regular basis. “I’m a fitness guy,” he added. “I hope everyone becomes a fitness guy.”

Rabbi Larry Kaplan, spiritual leader of Temple Israel, led a prayer as the exercise space was dedicated. He seemed eager to enhance his own fitness with all the varieties of exercise equipment. “I hope to try each one,” he said.

Reminding the group that the JCC is open to the entire community, Messinger said it has been the setting for bar mitzvahs, as you might expect, and “we just got a call for a quinceañera.”