The Gateway Regional Wellness Center is set to close to the community at the end of June. (Photo by Amy Porter)
HUNTINGTON – The Gateway Regional Wellness Center, the only fitness center in the Gateway hilltown region, is set to close to the community at the end of June.
The Wellness Center was put in as a part of the building project in 2003. Located opposite the high school gymnasium on the Gateway campus, the center is open to students during the school day as part of their physical education program. Before and after school, it is available to staff and community members who enroll. Members must be at least 12 years of age to join.
The center features a variety of aerobic training machines: bicycles, elliptical trainers, stair trainers and treadmills. Jump ropes, mats, exercise balls, free weights and weight-assisted lifting machines.
According to Stacy Stewart, Gateway administrative assistant who helps oversee the facility, the center is not considered a part of the district budget. The idea was for it to be self-sustaining through memberships.
“It’s not self-sustaining. We don’t have enough memberships to keep it open. It’s losing money,” Stewart said. She said the center is currently only taking payments on memberships through the end of June. After that, it will remain open for gym classes.
At the Huntington Select Board meeting on Wednesday, resident Carl Petrucci appealed to the selectmen for help to keep it open.
“It’s a viable place. It’s a needed thing,” Petrucci said. He said the cost is $21,450 a year to keep it open 52 weeks, and there is a $5,000-$6,000 shortfall. He said he didn’t know how many people that worked out to, because there are different amounts charged for membership for different categories. He also referred to Gateway Regional’s $16 million budget.
“We don’t have very much control over how they operate their school,” said Selectman Ed Renauld. He said Gateway Superintendent Dr. David B. Hopson is trying to save money, which translates to the town in taxes.
“The townspeople do pay taxes. I pay taxes,” Petrucci said.
The Select Board suggested he speak to the Huntington representatives on the School Committee, and attend a meeting, which he said he planned to do on April 26.
“It’s sad to see the place go. I use it. I’m a diabetic and I’m going to have to travel to Westfield,” Petrucci said.
That sentiment was also shared by Huntington resident Sue Igel on Friday at the fitness center. Igel is one of the people hired to staff the center during community hours one day a week. She also uses it herself.
Sue Igel who staffs the community hours at the fitness center one day a week, is sad to see it closing. She said community members who use it have become very close-knit. (Photo by Amy Porter)
“I’m sad about it closing because I work out every day here, coming in at 5:30 in the morning. It’s very convenient for local people. Everybody who works out here is sad about it. Seems a shame to me,” Igel said. She said the people who use the center have become a very close-knit group.
Memberships for the center cost $225 annually for adults, and $100 annually for students and seniors (60+). Monthly options were also available.
Stewart said although it’s located in Huntington, it was open to all seven Gateway towns, including Worthington which was a member of the district at the time it opened. She said the district has tried to promote memberships by going to open houses, advertising, even raffling off free ones, but it didn’t pick up. They have also sought grant funding to keep it open, but didn’t find any.
Stewart said the district pays people to staff the community hours, expending hundreds of dollars a week. She said memberships don’t cover that cost, let alone equipment maintenance, leaving Gateway business manager Stephanie Fisk to have to find money to cover it from the budget.
“We’ve gradually reduced the hours over the years in hopes of saving money,” Stewart said. She agreed that it is too bad that more people don’t utilize it.
“I’ll miss it. I use it a couple of days a week,” Stewart added.
