More from 63rd Street: Eco art in the Southeast Community Center

Fitness facilities aren’t known for their art work. Generally speaking, gyms aren’t prized for their architectural aesthetic, either. But the Southeast Community Center, perched above 63rd Street at the edge of Swope Park, inspires residents to sweat in style.

The $10.5-million work-out and meeting space opened less than a year ago and it’s still one of the city’s greenest public facilities. Designed to LEED Silver standards — a long acronym that basically means national experts have signed off on the building’s environmental attributes — the Southeast Community Center has a rain garden blanketing its north slope and a big native-plants patch hugging the front entrance. Generous windows fill the 47,000-square-foot space with natural light instead of fluorescent glare and even the bathrooms engage in water-saving tactics.

When I took a peek inside, during my canvas of 63rd Street, I discovered that even the art is eco-inspired.