By Emily VaughanThe Daily Northwestern
When the Evanston Athletic Club opened its doors in 1980, its competition came from Blomquist Recreation Center and Patten Gymnasium. Then came SPAC in 1987.
Now, two blocks from EAC, LA Fitness has joined the pack – and all agree that there’s no surplus of treadmills in the area.
Managers of LA Fitness and EAC said they aren’t concerned about competition between the two gyms.
“We see Evanston as an underserved community,” said Jarvis Mueller, general manager of the Evanston branch of LA Fitness, the first franchise in the Midwest. “There’s room for two or three fitness centers.”
LA Fitness, located in Sherman Plaza, has 110 cardio machines, five lines of circuit training equipment and a four-lane, 25-yard pool. It also has full basketball and volleyball courts intended for league play for members in its 53,000-square-foot facility.
“We offer brand new equipment, new energy and a new feel,” Mueller said.
As a national corporation, LA Fitness draws some students who have memberships from home. Communication junior Anna Eilinsfeld said she prefers the new gym to the other facilities.
“It has a jacuzzi and a pool,” Eilinsfeld said. “Sometimes it’s not worth it to go all the way to SPAC to do a few laps.”
Location is one advantage LA Fitness hopes to use to attract students like Eilinsfeld, who lives on Garnett Place.
“Convenience is the name of the game when is comes to people using fitness facilities,” said Dan Bulfin, NU’s director of fitness and recreation.
Despite the proximity to the new fitness center, EAC’s manager doesn’t think the new club will affect her clientele.
“The more I learn about it, I feel they are two very different experiences,” said Amy Whalen, manager of EAC.
With staff and clients who have been around for more than 15 years, Whalen said she is not worried about LA Fitness’ arrival.
“I’ve had a lot of people saying to me, ‘I don’t think you guys have anything to worry about,'” she said.
Music junior Laura Sauer has been working out at EAC since January and started working there in September.
“It is an amazing facility, so it really motivates me to work out,” she said. “EAC, as corny as it sounds, has a sense of community. Everyone at the front desk makes an effort to get to know you.”
The club is also expanding, beginning construction on a 10,000-square-foot addition to include yoga and pilates studios, a bouldering cave and a juice bar. Though coinciding with the opening of LA Fitness, the expansion is not a reaction to its arrival, Whalen said.
“We’ve been listening to our members and we want to give them what they want,” Whalen said.
Even with these new options and renovations, there is no shortage of sweaty bodies at SPAC – about 1,400 students use on-campus gyms each day.
“I think they’re aimed at different markets,” Bulfin said. “They may have more modern cardio machines, but I think we pretty much cover all the basics.”
And it’s free.
“I’m sure they’re nice but I don’t have the money for that kind of thing,” Weinberg senior Eric Lau said.
Reach Emily Vaughan at [email protected].
