Exciting news!

Beginning Sunday, January 9, 2022…

all Barefoot Lizard Yoga classes will be held in the beautiful historic gym Madras Park.

Classes will be led by Elizabeth Dorsey, ERYT500, and Carole Schmitt, RYT500.

Elizabeth is the owner and founder of Barefoot Lizard Yoga, LLC, which began 15 years ago as a “yoga to go” business out of the back of her Prius. She opened a brick & mortar studio in 2013 in Sharpsburg, Georgia; it survived two relocations and the pandemic. Elizabeth is currently partnering with Coweta County Parks & Recreation to provide yoga at Madras Park, 2355 HWY 29 N, in Newnan. Elizabeth also teaches yoga to cancer patients and survivors in partnership with Piedmont/Fayette Oncology.

Carole became a yoga student and an avid yoga practitioner when she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer in 2013. As a cancer survivor, she began studying to become a yoga instructor. Carole has been teaching yoga since the summer of 2018 and she recently completed her 500-hour yoga teacher certification.

The Gym at Madras

Madras Park fosters a lot of memories for a lot of folks.

The brick schoolhouse was constructed in 1934 and in 1967, the gym was built and dedicated as the “Donald Lowery Memorial Gymnasium” in honor of a former student killed in the Vietnam War.

Area children attended the school and enjoyed sports and dances in the gymnasium until 1987.

From 1987-2007, the school served as office space for the Coweta County Board of Education. It then sat vacant for seven years until it was announced in 2014 that the structures on the property would demolished.

Word of the planned demolition got out and a citizen’s community was formed with goals to preserve the schoolhouse and gymnasium for future generations.

In late 2014 the Coweta County Board of Commissioners worked with the Coweta County Board of Education to agree to a land swap in early 2017, which ultimately turned the property over to Coweta County BOC.

In 2017, Coweta County allocated funds from SPLOST to perform renovations and develop a park and community center on the property. Much of the construction was done in house. Departments contributing include:  Public Works, Road Department, Facilities Management, and Information Services.  

Phase 1 of the park project was completed in June of 2020. This included renovation of the Gymnasium, the addition of a paved walking trail, outdoor exercise equipment, pavilion, a playground system, and plenty of open green space.