'Local' Gym Opens Friday on Asbury Avenue

The purple-and-lime green color scheme of Denovum is gone, replaced by the red, black and white of Local Ocean City Gym & Fitness.

An immense, double-glass door is hung on a sliding track, the better to open wide and allow bicyclists to pedal up to the bike rack that will be installed inside the gym's entrance.

The bathroom doors have been labeled "Babes" and "Studs." Three flat-screen televisions have been mounted on a wall, an impressive sound system has been installed, and T-shirts hang ready for purchase. Cardio, weight-lifting and abs equipment is lined up, ready for workouts.

Friday, the plywood facade that has fronted Asbury Avenue and obscured the construction phase of Local Gym from the public will be removed and former clients and new members will be welcomed during an open house from 4 to 8 p.m.

"It's like any wedding or big party," partner Fritz Hastings says of the grand opening. "You pick a date and then you go ahead with it."

As of mid-week, the "punch list" of things to do was getting smaller, although the nights preparing the facility were getting longer. Hastings and partners Russell Snow, Patrick Carr and Mark Impagliazzo, after missing out on the summer season because they did the work themselves after their day jobs, are eager to "let the community see what we've done," Hastings says.

The men, the former operators of Islander Gym at the corner of West Avenue and Eighth Street, closed that facility almost two years ago after selling the property to a nearby church that needed larger quarters for its growing congregation. Ever since, they've been looking for a new location in town.

"We're happy we got the space," Hastings says. "We really wanted to stay in town."

In addition to remaining in Ocean City, the men wanted to concentrate on Ocean City residents. "I built the other gym for athletes and the summer population," Hastings says, mentioning Impagliazzo and Snow, both of whom he trained from the age of 14, and Carr, whom he's trained the last eight years, during which Carr has won world championships in power lifting. "This one we built for the community.

"Mark and I have been coaching Ocean City kids for a combined 100 years. The whole idea of being "Local" is that we want to be here for those kids and the year-round community."

In keeping with the local theme, Local's front desk is made from pieces of the basketball floor from the old Ocean City High School. A television screen built into the front of the reception desk will show paid local advertising and the blank walls above the cardio equipment may one day be used to display local artwork.

Local Ocean City Gym & Fitness, 908 Asbury Ave. 609-545-8732. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 5:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.