ARLINGTON, TX -- The owner of the Dallas Cowboys helped give the gymnasium at the Arlington, TX, Boys & Girls Club’s main branch a makeover in an effort to combat childhood obesity and encourage children to stay physically active.

Renovations at the gym, now called the Dallas Cowboys Fitness Zone, were paid for by a $30,000 grant from the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Charities and the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Arlington Youth Foundation, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Jerry Jones is the owner of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys.

The 40-year-old gym has new paint and carpeting, lights and bleachers as well as sports and fitness equipment. Members of the Cowboys visited kids at the renovated gym on Monday.

At least 72 percent of the children who visit daily the Arlington Boys and Girls Club’s main branch come from families living at or below the poverty level, says Michael Gonzales, the organization’s vice president of development.

“It’s going to be a great source of pride for kids who are members of our clubs knowing the Cowboys’ name is on their gym,” Gonzales tells the newspaper.

In south Arlington, developers plan to break ground on the $10 million Texas Sports Center this fall. The center will house basketball and volleyball tournaments and is expected to have 17 multipurpose courts available year-round for youth and adult league tournaments as well as for training and conditioning, the Star-Telegram reports.

The Texas Sports Center is expected to open in late 2009. The Arlington City Council approved zoning for the project earlier this month.

“The facility is being built to serve the youth, and we really see this as an amenity to the community,” developer Jimmy Archie of Realty Capital Corp. of Colleyville, TX, tells the newspaper.

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