After opening in Rosslyn last summer, franchise owner Mark Steverson said the reception has been good enough to expand further in the county.
“We’ve been very busy, but more importantly, the community has really responded well and taken off with the concept of what we do here,” he said. “It’s great to see he community in better shape since we’ve moved in.”
Located on the ground floor of the Halstead apartment building, on Columbia Pike, the location is World Gym’s only in Arlington.
An employee there told ARLnow.com that the business is closing because of a dispute between the franchise owner and the building manager, but couldn’t provide any details.
Located at at 1122 N. Kirkwood Road, the gym is one of four Sport & Health clubs in Arlington; there is one in Ballston and two in Crystal City. The comapny emailed its members earlier this week to tell them the gym would close March 5 due to concerns about building maintenance and “market conditions.”
“The market conditions have changed and the facility that was created decades ago will not allow us to continue with our vision at the Arlington Sport&Health Club,” Sport & Health Club CEO and President Mark Fisher wrote in the email. “While these market conditions and physical plant concerns have affected our ability to continue operating the Arlington club, we have built new clubs and reinvested in others. It is our hope that you will continue to give us the opportunity to help you reach your fitness goals and enjoy the club communities that we create.”
Police say a man left the L.A. Fitness on the 3500 block of S. Clark Street, near Potomac Yard, just before 8:00 p.m. He was followed to his apartment by another man. Once inside the apartment lobby, the suspect exposed himself, then fled the scene on foot.
“The suspect is described as a black male in his 30s, approximately 6’1” and 230 pounds,” police said in the daily crime report. “At the time of the incident the suspect was wearing a black knit winter hat, a black hooded sweatshirt with red dots and blue jeans. The investigation is ongoing.”
Arlington Boy Drowns in Shenandoah — A 3-year-old Arlington boy drowned in a Shenandoah County creek over the weekend. The boy had been seen playing with other children about 200 yards downstream from where his body was found by a search and rescue team. His death has been ruled accidental. [NV Daily]
Jail Hosts Mother’s and Father’s Day Visits — Earlier this month, the Arlington County Detention Facility held a special event for the children of female inmates, in honor of Mother’s Day. Next month, the jail will host a similar event for the children of men for Father’s Day. [Sun Gazette]
World Gym Now ‘Exercise Nation’ — The poorly-reviewed World Gym at 1058 S. Walter Reed Drive has changed hands and is now “Exercise Nation,” a small low-cost gym chain with existing locations near Baltimore. Memberships start at $10/month. [Washington Business Journal]
Metro Ramps Up Anti-Harassment Campaign — This month Metro began tracking all forms of sexual harassment, one additional step in the agency’s ongoing anti-harassment campaign. [Greater Greater Washington]
(Updated at 1:55 p.m. on 12/23/21) For the second time in as many months, an Arlington man has been arrested for allegedly masturbating in the sauna of a local health club.
Police were at the LA Fitness club on the 3500 block of S. Clark Street in Crystal City Thursday morning, investigating a separate incident, when a gym user approached officers to tell them about a man he saw masturbating in the public sauna, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
Robert Brockington, 37, is accused of “multiple counts of credit card larceny and credit card fraud.” He is “known to frequent area gyms, and will take wallets and credit cards from both locked and unlocked lockers,” according to police.
The police department is asking anyone with information on Brockington to contact Det. Steven Roeseler at 703-228-4182.
Located in the former Kayak Station space, Pentagon MMA (1041 S. Edgewood Street) will open at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 2. As part of its grand opening celebration, it will be offering free introductory classes from 11:00 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, including Intro to Muay Thai, Women’s Kickboxing, and Intro to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. An open house will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Pentagon MMA says they will be offering big discounts on memberships during their first weekend. The studio says they “welcome people of all ages, shapes, and sizes” who want to learn self-defense, get in shape, or compete in MMA.
The training center is connected to Verve Health & Fitness near the Rosslyn metro. Verve Co-owner Michael Lin explained that part of the existing facility was partitioned off to add CrossFit. Lin believes offering both CrossFit style workouts and more traditional exercise options benefits customers.
“I believe the balance is very important to keep a person as healthy and capable as physically possible,” said Lin.
Pending county approvals, Ballston CrossFit expects to open on Monday, Feb. 13. Interior construction is partially completed at the gym, located on the ground floor of an office building at 1110 N. Glebe Road. A shipment of fitness equipment was moved in earlier this week, according to Ballston CrossFit’s Facebook page.
“At Ballston CrossFit you will be challenged and motivated every day with constantly varied high intensity functional workouts, resulting in a greatly enhanced level of fitness,” the gym says on its website. “Our program efficiently combines the most effective methods of Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, kettlebells and high intensity cardio.”
Potomac Crossfit owner Brian Wilson says he was just notified by his landlord that he would have to vacate the space by the end of the month, despite receiving earlier assurances that the gym would be able to stay until the spring. Wilson is planning to move staff and equipment from Potomac Crossfit, which opened in 2008, to his newer Patriot Crossfit gym near the intersection of Lee Highway and Glebe Road.
Wilson hopes loyal gym members will make the extra car trip or bus ride to Patriot Crossfit while he works to secure a new location in Clarendon. He says he’s currently in negotiations with a landlord to lease a space in Clarendon that’s even bigger than the current Potomac Crossfit space. Even if those negotiations prove successful, however, Wilson doesn’t expect the new location would open any sooner than this summer. Wilson added that he’s also in negotiations to lease spaces for crossfit gyms in the Pentagon City and Ballston neighborhoods.
