Even the most on-the-go members are finding time to stop and enjoy a spacious new fitness center, built atop of an historic squash court at one of the country’s oldest private clubs.

When commuters to New York City have a train to catch, their minds are usually set on one thing: not missing it. And anything that might get in the way of that goal usually doesn’t have much of a chance to become part of their daily routines.

But there’s a fast-growing group of commuters from Rye, N.Y., who are now taking a much different approach to how they start their days. They’re members of The Apawamis Club, which for most of its nearly 120-year history has been known for golf (Gene Sarazen started caddying there at age 11), squash and tennis.

Until a few years ago, fitness was a distant afterthought to these other activities at Apawamis, confined to 600 square feet in an out-of-the-way spot, with just a few treadmills and some free weights available for use.

But when the membership was surveyed in 2005 about how it would like to improve the club, a bigger and better fitness facility clearly emerged as “by far the number-one interest,” reports Rob Schlingmann, who has been General Manager at Apawamis since 2002.

That set into motion a planning and building process that finally culminated four years later with the opening last month of the Apawamis Fitness Center. And already, the new facility is proving attractive and appealing enough to stop members—even those who would normally be hustling to catch a train—in their tracks.

“Our club is less than a five-minute walk from the train station,” Schlingmann says. “We’re already seeing many members now come in here as early as 4:30 in the morning, before they head into the city, for a workout or even a session with a personal trainer. And we’re seeing the same thing on the other side of the day, too—either they stop for a workout right after taking the train back home, or come back later at night.”

Squashed No More
Accommodating this type of regular, round-the-clock use was a big part of the planning for Apawamis’ new facility. Once membership approved building it, Schlingmann set out to bring it to life with Mario Guaglianone, whose company, The Salus Group, has developed a niche helping private clubs in the New York area—including the Greenwich (Conn.) Country Club (see “A Name That Works,” C&RB, June 2008)—first plan and design new fitness centers, and then staffing and operating them for the clubs on a contract basis.

Because his experience with similar projects at other clubs—including Greenwich CC—had always led to the new facilities quickly being used to existing capacity, Guaglianone urged Schlingmann from the start to find enough room for a 3,000-sq. ft. facility on the Apawamis property. This was critical, he stressed, for two reasons: 1) it would position the Apawamis fitness center as a viable alternative to the health clubs that many members were currently using through separate memberships; and 2) enough size would also provide the comfort level that’s more appropriate for fitness in a private-club setting.

Equipment in Apawamis Fitness Center(bold numbers on left correspond to location in Fitness Center as shown on floor plan, above right) Cardio Equipment 1 750 Treadmills/TVs (5) 2 Total Body Arc Trainers/TVs (4) 3 Recumbent Bikes/TVs (3) 4 Expresso VR Upright Bikes/TVs (2) 5 Concept II Rower (1) Strength Equipment 6 Chest Press 7 Overhead Press 8 Fly/Rear Delt 9 Abdominal 10 Torso Rotation 11 Leg Extension 12 Leg Curl 13 Leg Press 14 UBE Bike Modular Equipment 15 Cable Crossover Lat Pulldowns (2); Low Row; Assisted Chin Dip; Arm Curl; Arm Extension 16 FT-350 Functional Trainer 17 Two-tier Dumbbell Rack 18 Beauty Bell Rack Adjustable Benches (2); Upright Bench 19 Smith Machine Core Pieces 20 45-degree Back Extension 21 Leg Raise Dip 22 Bent Leg Abdominal Board Not pictured: TrueStretch Cage All equipment by CYBEX

“Many [fitness centers] in the clubs I’ve seen are just too crowded—almost claustrophobic, in fact,” Guaglianone says. “That works against what you want to have in a private club, and can definitely affect how appealing they will be to everyone—especially the younger and older people who may want to start using a fitness center for the first time.”

Finding that much space on an older, East Coast club property is not always easy, though. In Apawamis’ case, identifying a large-enough spot brought added challenges, because of the club’s deeply rooted traditions. The new fitness center would have to conform with existing architecture and be located where it could mesh well with established activities.

Providing enough space and equipment has helped to position the new Apawamis Fitness Center as a viable alternative to the health clubs many members were using through separate memberships.

Eventually, a building that houses a doubles squash court, located just behind the main clubhouse, was tabbed as the best available space. But this wasn’t just any court—it dates back to the 1930s and not only has historical significance as one of the first of its kind in the U.S., but is still viewed as one of the world’s best available venues for doubles competition (Apawamis frequently hosts elite, international-level squash tournaments and is considered to have the best squash program in the country and to be a global center for the sport).

So knocking down the court, or overwhelming it with the new fitness space,  was not an option; instead, the fitness center would have to be built over, and carefully integrated with, what was already in place. “It wasn’t the most cost-effective approach, as we had to keep [the court’s] original plaster walls intact,” Schlingmann notes.

Getting Plenty of Play
But like the club’s proximity to the train station, this proved to be another case where location led to a welcomed result. Keeping the fitness center close to the court has helped to promote conditioning tie-ins, Guaglianone reports, especially among the club’s many budding young players.

“While [unsupervised] use [of the fitness center] is limited to age 16 and over,” he says, “we’re already seeing more interest than we expected from younger kids who want to come in to use it with their coaches and trainers, for conditioning workouts that can help them improve in squash or tennis or golf. ”

General Manager Rob Schlingmann found solutions for the special challenges involved with building a large new facility on a tradition-rich property

In fact, Schlingmann adds, opportunities to use the new fitness center to promote health and wellness among Apawamis’ younger set may prove to be the biggest benefit of all for the club’s membership population.

“We’ve always been all about the family, and [the new fitness center] is an extension of that philosophy,” he says. “You can’t just be about golf anymore—you have to have things that Mom, Dad and the kids can all make good use of. With Tina [Guaglianone, Mario’s wife and a certified nutrionist] involved as part of the available staff, we think there are some real opportunities to now integrate  the facility and what it promotes into not only our junior sports programs, but also our summer camps and the sports that the kids play for their schools.”

At the same time, Guaglianone has seen signs that the fitness center is also quickly finding favor with the club’s older members, who are now using it to help with rehab from surgery or therapy for other health issues, or just to stay in better shape in their senior years.

“It’s reaching every part of the club,” he reports. “We’ve seen people in here from age 13 to age 85, and in a much wider range of hours than we anticipated.

“We had hoped to get it open earlier in the year, so we could capture more of the momentum from New Year’s resolutions,” Guaglianone adds. “But even not opening until May, we’re very pleased with the activity levels we’ve seen. And members who didn’t want to cancel their other health club memberships until we were open have told us they definitely will for next year, because they’re so blown away by what‘s here now.”