Health Club covers all the bases

Posted September 16, 2009 5:49 pm by

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  • ETNA TOWNSHIP — Clinton Clark and Michael Beach grew up in Pataskala, and while doing so they always wished there was more to do.

The two Watkins Memorial graduates — both in 1993 — ran into the same problem as adults. They had to drive elsewhere to play in adult basketball or flag football leagues.
That fact of life prompted them to spend the last four years of their lives pouring themselves into a fitness venture. That venture, ARC Fitness, opened recently on the northeast corner of National Road and York Road.

The vast 16,000-square-foot facility features everything a fitness freak could ask for, including an indoor track, full-size basketball court, locker rooms with private showers, Life Fitness cardio equipment, Hammer Strength equipment and a Treadwall, a rotating climbing wall.
It also is decked out with Wi-Fi and large-screen televisions, making it a full-fitness experience.
“We’re proud of it, and we want Pataskala to be proud of it,” Clark said.
Clark and Beach came up with the idea four years ago. They spent two years acquiring the necessary equipment, but then the real work began. With the help of their friends and family, they painstakingly transformed a bare warehouse into a fitness center, one that places an emphasis on detail.
For example, they built multiple rooms to house different styles of fitness equipment. One enormous space houses the Hammer Strength equipment, while smaller rooms, outfitted with televisions, house Selectorized equipment and dumbells.
The indoor track and cardio equipment, meanwhile, are on the second floor, which overlooks the basketball court and its shot clocks and scoreboard.
The men’s and women’s changing rooms feature Oak lockers and private showers, and the entire facility features various stylistic touches, from dozens of pictures of athletes training to carpeting, wood paneling and ceramic paneling — 4,000 square feet of it.
“It’s been two years, basically, we’ve just been inside here,” said Clark, pointing out the pair sometimes spent 13 to 14 hours a day, save for holidays, working on the facility. “It’s been a process, but we’ve been blessed with a lot of help.”
Their work already is paying dividends. The West Licking Warriors Special Olympics basketball team intends to practice and play games at the facility, and people in recent weeks have stopped by, unannounced, to get a look at it.
Clark and Beach hope to attract more customers by offering youth and adult sports leagues. They are close to putting the finishing touches on a outdoor field-turf field in order to offer flag football and soccer leagues. The basketball court, meanwhile, will house basketball and volleyball leagues.
“This is something, I feel, both of us have a real calling for — helping out with the kids in the community, making a difference in the community,” Beach said.
Clark, meanwhile, is particularly excited about offering a multi-faceted fitness experience, one where someone can go running or play basketball, then rest while surfing the Internet or watching television before training on strength or cardio equipment.
“We tried to accommodate everyone,” said Clark, adding the fitness center elected to scrap enrollment fees and long-term contracts for monthly rates, which start at $39, plus tax.
Chad Klimack can be reached at (740) 927-3738 or cklimack@nncogannett.com


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