If it hadn’t been for squash, Southport Athletic Club might not exist today.
The former squash and racquetball club was built in 1977, but sold to a developer that was going to turn the building into office spaces. That’s when several of the squash members got together and started donating whatever they had to save their club. Within 24 hours, the members had collected enough money to purchase the building back from the developer and begin their own club. As a result, Southport Athletic Club in Southport, Conn., came into existence.
“That developer made a good amount of money in 24 hours,” said Southport’s general manager, Tim Taylor. “They (the new owners) built it and tried to make it a squash-only facility, and that’s when the idea of fitness came along back in the early 80s, probably around 1985. They had the idea of introducing fitness and keeping squash here, and it’s been a booming success from that standpoint.”
Taylor arrived at Southport in 1986 to run the “fitness” side of the new club. The mid-1980s was an unsure era for the health and fitness industry, but Southport persevered.
“When I came here we had 22 fitness members,” he said. “Now it’s 1,400. The owners really weren’t sure how the fitness thing was going to work. I think even the New York Times wrote an article wondering if the fitness business had reached its pinnacle.”
Those doubts were quickly squashed as the fitness craze continued to take over the U.S. Now, Southport Athletic Club provides 70 group fitness classes a week and offers personal training opportunities.
“We have two levels now with two studios downstairs and a full fitness facility upstairs,” said Taylor. “Twenty-six years ago I had to go in front of my board of directors to say that I needed a bicycle. They couldn’t believe what the cost was for just one stationary bike.”
Southport now has 40 stationary bikes that the club uses for cycling classes. The club is unique in that it uses the same studio for all of its group fitness classes, including cycling. Employees are constantly moving equipment in and out of the room to prepare for the next class — from bikes to punching bags to yoga mats, that room sees it all.
“I really find that it’s a waste of space if we only use a room for one thing for a couple hours every day,” explained Taylor. “You’ll have [cycling] at 5 in the morning and then 9:30 and 10, and then it just sits there for the rest of the day. It’s such an awful waste of space when you could be turning it into a boxing area or a yoga area.”
Southport also uses part of its 16,000 square feet for the social aspect of the club, offering coffee and bagels to members in the front lobby every morning.
“We came along with the idea of making it a ‘club’ and not a ‘gym,’” said Taylor. “Albeit, it is a gym, but with a lot more of a social aspect. We give away coffee in the morning. We have bagels here in the morning for people. What it does is create that kind of sit-down coffee shop atmosphere. Any given day, 12 or 13 people are here in the morning and they haven’t even worked out yet. They’re just eating their bagel and drinking their coffee, and they’re quite happy about it.”
Many who work at Southport now have been there for years, if not from the beginning. Those employees’ willingness to interact with everyone at the club is something else that makes Southport a special place for its members.
“I’m the visible body that someone can complain to or ask a question to,” said Taylor. “To be honest with you, all my trainers — we have eight of them — all of them except one, who I just hired, have been here at least a decade. Most of them have been here for around 15 years. It’s an incredible place from the standpoint that there’s continuity. It’s not a new GM every three months. It’s me and my staff, who have all been here for about 15 years.”
By Ashley Scoby
