Ditmas Fitness Coming to Beverley Road Next Month
Juan Spencer has dreamed of creating a fitness space in Ditmas Park, his home for the past 22 years, for some time. He’ll finally realize his vision when Ditmas Fitness opens at 1004 Beverley Road, between Stratford and Coney Island Avenue, next month.
This may sound familiar, and that’s because Juan was out at the Flatbush Frolic on Cortelyou Road this past fall to talk about the space he was planning, when he was originally looking at locations on Church Avenue and Cortelyou Road as rental possibilities. After months of spots falling through, this past winter he saw the Beverley Road space, and it turned out to be exactly what he was looking for.
“It’s just the right space for this,” Juan said. “The location is great–there’s a lot of foot traffic, and it’s a nice walk from a lot of places in the neighborhood–and it’s the right size for what I’d like to do.”
What he’s hoping to create is a fitness center with a clean and comfortable community atmosphere for people who haven’t felt at home in the existing chains around the city. After years of working out in places where he was shown around and left to fend for himself immediately, Juan wants to bring back some of the personal help that he feels is missing in gyms these days.
“It would drive me nuts when nobody would say anything to help guide newcomers,” he said. “When I started to work out back in the day, people were around to assist you, and you don’t get that anymore.”
Juan is an ACE certified personal trainer, and will have other people around who are as well. Because everything is on the main floor, everything will be visible to the people working, so there will be help available at all times.
Another difference will be the absence of contracts. Juan says there will be no initiation or cancellation fees, and you can have a daily, weekly, or month-to-month membership with special rates for guest of members. He is also exploring affordable senior and youth programs.
“When you walk in, there will be signage like a menu for the rates, and you can choose whatever suits you,” he said. “Who am I to penalize you if you decide not to come? That’s your business, and it’s logical and realistic to me.”
Other things you can look forward to include:
Weights and machines: He’s starting out with 4 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, 2 bikes. There will be 30-minute time limits because of the size of the place, depending on how busy it is–if nobody’s waiting, no limits. There will also be free weights and weight-stack machines.
Personal trainers, instructors in yoga, etc: He will have a list of people he recommends who have experience and certification, who you can hire outside of your membership if you’re interested.
An artistic twist: He’d like to bring in some of the artistic nature of our community, and is thinking of using some wall space for artwork on consignment. Downstairs there will be male and female restrooms and changing rooms, but no showers. Guests will be invited to use and mark up the vintage lockers on the first floor (“If it gets ugly, I’ll paint them,” he said). In the large backyard space there will be a garden with bistro tables and umbrellas, plus internet access as part of the membership. (Food will not be available but will be welcome from the outside.) He’s also thinking about hosting movie nights.
Variety: “There are a lot of things I’ve thought of, and nothing’s off the table,” he said, suggesting things like Sunday “fitness tea” or a DJ on some Friday nights for the last hour to get you ready for the weekend.
There’s still some work to be done in the former party supply space, which has seen a major makeover. Just walking past, you might have already noticed some of the changes he’s made to the streetscape, which should give you a hint at what’s to come inside. Juan, an avid gardener with a special talent for orchids, put planters on the street in front of his space and in front of Madina next door, and planted flowers in them and in the tree pit right outside as well.
“People asked me why I was doing that,” he said. “I told them, if it looks bad outside, you’re not going to come inside. Since I’ve been here, everybody else has kept things clean too. It’s caught on.”
Some people have asked him about the name Ditmas Fitness. “The name was derived out of a desire to continue to put Ditmas Park, Brooklyn on the map,” he said. “I knew I wanted it to be in or as close to what we call Ditmas Park as possible and to welcome everyone, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods including Kensington. I realized that the location is actually in what is called Beverley Square West after attending the BSW neighborhood association meeting earlier this month.”
For Juan, creating this space for his community is a new life experience that he says came at just the right moment. After working in networking and communications for a major publishing company for 12 years, and just being in the corporate world for many years, he was glad for the opportunity to move on this past fall. He immediately took on the search for a space to build Ditmas Fitness, and he hasn’t looked back.
“I’m so excited, what a change in my life,” Juan said. “This was just perfect for me. There are so many other things that I enjoy, and I get to do more with them now.”
Ditmas Fitness will have a launch party on a Sunday evening followed by an opening day celebration in July. There’s no firm date yet, but we’ll keep you posted. And note that though the website isn’t live yet, it will be soon.