On the night of October 29th, 2020, some of the residents living in the northwest part of town were disturbed by the smell of smoke, and the sound of crackling sounds followed by sirens of firefighter trucks thereafter. The building that once housed an athletic gym, at the corner of Sunset Ave and Orchard Ave, had caught on fire and was completely destroyed overnight.
The building had been vacant and its windows boarded up for more than a year, possibly even 2 years. Aesthetically, it was in a poor state due to its neglect. It just looked sad and seem out of place. The roofing had been completely stripped away, apparently, thieves were taking parts of the roof off because it contained copper which they could then sell for a quick buck.
The 29,381 square feet building itself had been up for sale shy of 1 million dollars, $990,000 to be exact. It had been on the market since about 2018. Based on the sales listing, the building was built back in 1977. The building originally opened up as the Madera Athletic Gym. It had a swimming pool (where many residents learned to swim), two racquetball rooms, a basketball court, a sauna, and rooms filled with various exercising machines.
Throughout the years it went through a series of business name changes. From Gold’s Gym, to Thrive Fitness, to Fitness Evolution, to most recently and final name, Fit Republic.
A Lost Battle to Keep the Gym Open
So why did it close down and left abandoned in the first place? This is a good question, but the gist of it is that people living in its vicinity saw it as a nuisance and a threat to their neighborhood’s peace. They declared war to take it down.
Even more so the gym may have just outgrown its location and its surrounding neighborhood. Since for years, even decades, it had not been a problem for anyone living in the area. People even knowingly bought homes in the area despite there being a gym in close proximity. It’s not as if it had just popped out of nowhere overnight. Yet, in recent years the people who lived in the houses around it grew tired of it and its members.
What and when was the tipping point is to be determined, but it soon became a point of contention. It was a battle between the long time gym-goers versus the residents of the neighborhood where the gym resided in. On one side of the aisle, they argued the gym should continue operating as it always had. Nevertheless, the neighborhood residents had a different idea and they vehemently opposed it and wanted it gone no matter what. They argued it was causing too much noise, traffic, and that it lacked proper parking. Others went on much further to say it was mold-infested.
The current and previous gym-goers also expressed their own outrage on the issue. One of those persons was Anson Lihosit who expressed his thoughts in an opinion piece published by the Madera Tribune. In it, he seems to reflect its historical and sentimental value. There were several others who also expressed their own strong opinions, both for and against its closure which can be read here.
Eventually, both sides just couldn’t seem to work out a solution, no pun intended. Once the gym closed down, it took the weight off neighbors’ shoulders (again, no pun intended) — at least for that time being.
The Future of the Site
There have been several proposals on how to use the site. For example, in June 2020 at one of the city council’s meeting a proposal was discussed. The proposal was to partially demolish part of the existing building and remodel other parts into a 15-unit luxury townhouse complex (elevation and floor plans cab be seen on page 19 of the .pdf document). Initially, a 20-unit complex had been proposed.
But again, several of the neighborhood residents were in opposition to such an idea. Their written letters and emails can be read starting on page 38 of the .pdf document. Many arguing that it would not be much different than having a gym and that it too would increase traffic and disturb their neighborhood. One resident even titled his letter How to Destroy a Peaceful Neighborhood. It’s apparent that the only solution the neighborhood residents would be in favor of is to use the site to build single-family homes, nothing else.
In the document, the top concerns of those in opposition of the townhouse complex according to the staff report were the following:
- Affordable Housing (Section 8)
- Existing and Anticipated Traffic
- Over-development of the Project Site
- Street Parking
- Student and School Route
All of those concerns were addressed by the planners. And some of them seem to have been raised out of speculation in the first place or as a last ditch effort to dismantle the proposal.
Now, after the fire, what’s left of the building will have to be demolished and cleared out. So some of the proposed plans will have to change. It will be a clean slate, so it will be interesting to see what ends up happening with the lot and how the city and developers will proceed with it. Whether the neighbors’ dream of seeing single-family homes built in lieu is yet to be seen but doesn’t seem likely.
The Aftermath of the Fire (Photos)
Here are some photos that were taken a day after the fire on October 30th, 2020. As you can see, there’s not much left that could be salvage. It looks like a total loss.
The cause of the fire at the time of this writing is unknown, but considering how long it was abandoned, it comes as no surprise. What will be built there next? We will have to wait and see.
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