Colosseum Gym Has a Foot in S.O.—and Some Well-Muscled Arms

While the building itself is in Newark, the gym's parking lot is in Maplewood and the western parking lot entrance is located in South Orange, according to Laracca. He reported that about 50 percent of Colosseum members are South Orange and Maplewood residents.

And Colosseum is very active sponsoring organizations in Maplewood and South Orange and has sponsored the Columbia High School track team. "The coach of the female track team is a member," said Laracca. "They run here in the winter for a special rate." Laracca also donated equipment to CHS Cougars football, and he donated an entire gym—$50,000 in equipment—to the Maplewood PD to outfit the workout room at the new police station on Springfield Avenue. 

Despite the fact that he lives in Whippany with his wife and three children, Laracca loves being in Maplewood/South Orange/Newark. "What I love is the diversity of our clientele. We have tons of SHU students, including Monsignor Wister, who is a personal friend and a mentor. We have young, old, men, women, all races and ethnicities. The head of cardiology at Beth Israel works out at the gym, as does Sampson Davis of the Three Doctors Foundation." (Davis is an ER doctor who is famous for co-authoring "The Pact," the true story of three friends from Newark who rose from poverty to professional success and now mentor inner-city youth.)

There is a live DJ—the house DJ is a gym member—from 5 to 8 p.m. every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night.

The gym is huge—one might say "colossal"—with 24,000 square feet of space and hundreds of pieces of equipment including aerobic, circuit training and weights. Laracca just brought in dozens of new machines that are iPod integrated so you can listen to your favorite tunes as you work out. Colosseum offers all kinds of classes, including pilates, yoga, kickboxing and boot camp. And the gym has just been renovated, inside and out. The women's locker room is undergoing renovations and will soon have a sauna and three showers, plus marble counter-tops and tiled floors. The pro shop has over 200 items.

A key attraction, said Laracca, is the parking lot, which offers 250 spaces.

However, this end of Maplewood is often overlooked by some residents, said Laracca. The business community itself has a hard time coalescing for joint marketing, since the Irvington Avenue commercial district encompasses the three municipalities of Maplewood, Newark and South Orange.

Over the past few years, the three municipalities have had preliminary discussions about forming a special improvement district for the area, but nothing has come to fruition as yet. It has been difficult even organizing just the Maplewood merchants in the area, said Maplewood Mayor Vic De Luca,  who added, "We did have a Maplewood merchant meeting in late July, and I hope to have another later this year or early 2010."

Laracca is sometimes fighting perceptions when locals see that his address is Newark. 

But, said Laracca: "The Ivy Hill Center [where Colosseum is located, along with stores including Radio Shack and the new Fine Fare supermarket] really has come a long way since I entered it in 1998." Laracca noted that the area is "really safe" and that there is a Newark PD substation in one corner of his parking lot. Plus, with members of the SOPD, Maplewood PD and Newark PD all working out in the gym, safety is pretty much guarantied.

"I really want to stress how much of a friendly, safe and welcoming environment Colosseum Gym is and how it services people of all ages, walks of life and fitness levels. I am so proud of the facility and I really believe it speaks for itself when the customers come in."