Picture this: a gym located in the ballroom of an old high-rise apartment building, complete with ornate sconces, chandeliers and marble floors. There, you can find rugby players, retired nuns, a swim team and local college students. This may sound like a fever dream, but it’s actually Edgewater Athletic Club.
Owner and president Derek DeLapp combined his background in business and marketing with his passion for rugby and personal training to create a unique club unlike any other in this northern Chicago community.
“I primarily thought of it as a training club, but we just kept growing, and now we’re a full-service health club,” explained DeLapp. “It’s the kind of place where you can be any shape, size, or form and feel comfortable.”
In addition to free weights and machines, this venue also has an Olympic-size swimming pool and its very own swim team. Staying true to his training roots, DeLapp also offers a high intensity training class that combines Oolympic lifting and indoor/outdoor training for athletes.
DeLapp said he chose the location primarily because he felt the neighborhood was underdeveloped. As the community began to grow, so did the club. Since 2002, the club has undergone two major expansions, but that growth didn’t come easily.
The club’s unique location also meant that many didn’t even know it existed. He recalls having to hang banners and signs around the outside of the building, as well as hand out flyers at the local train stations, in order to promote the club.
As a former player for the Division-I Chicago Griffins rugby club, it was easy for DeLapp to convince his former teammates to make Edgewater Athletic Club their personal gym, as well as other local rugby clubs like the Division-I North Shore women’s club.
Partnerships like this were key to growing the gym’s brand and reputation, something DeLapp continues to do by partnering with Loyola University Chicago and sponsoring local events in the community.
“We’re not a hard-sell club,” said DeLapp. “You’re not going to get a song and a dance, or a bait and a switch or a hard sell here.”
DeLapp said the club’s motto has become “something for everyone, something for you.” So as the community expands, DeLapp plans to be the number-one choice for everyone in the area, whether they’re a high-end athlete or an elderly nun.
By Ethan Smith
