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McCreary takes over athletic club
When Jeremy McCreary was attending Central Washington University in 2004, he got an offer to work at LA Fitness gymnasium in Mill Creek. He worked there for about six months as an assistant gym manager and liked the work, for the most part; he studied kinesiology at Central. He wasn’t a big fan of living on the west side of the state, however, and moved back to Quincy, his hometown, in 2005.
He soon entered into some discussions about taking over the Quincy Athletic Club, but at that time the club’s owners, Fortress LLC, decided to turn over the operations of the club to Jack Toevs and trainer James Gettings.
Five years later, McCreary will get his shot.
McCreary will take over the lease of the club, which he plans to rename Quincy Swim & Gym, on Aug. 1.
An open house barbecue is planned for Aug. 12 from 5 to 9 p.m.
“I think it will be good for the community,” he said. “Quincy isn’t big enough to support three gyms, but I think we need more than one. I think there will be a market for it. I mean, I’m not going to get rich with this or anything, but it’s fun. It’s what I like to do.”
McCreary has several changes in mind for the club. First of all, he’s in the process of replacing and updating workout equipment. After things are a bit settled, he plans to put more of an emphasis on the facility’s swimming pool; hence the name change.
“When I was asked to take over the lease, I was a bit hesitant at first because I didn’t know if it would be profitable,” he said. “You look at it and see that there are 220 members, and you go, ‘How could they be losing money?’ Well, from what I’ve heard, the pool has cost too much to maintain. So I want to run it as more of a gym and pool.”
He plans to institute a series of classes that make full use of the club’s racquetball court.
“I want to get some pool classes going, things like aqua-fit and splashdown, and some classes for seniors to help with joint therapy and arthritis,” he said. “I also want to put in some batting cages in the racquetball court. I’d like to do some karate, some yoga, an abs class, a body pump class. That’s what I’m going to be focusing on during the first couple of months. The first three things I want to do are get memberships up, start some pool and group classes and get racquetball competitions going. I want to get more competitions and classes going.”
McCreary also said the club’s hours will be expanded to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days per week, and will give an access card to members if they want to use the facilities early in the morning or late at night.
He will also benefit from the help of having a seasoned trainer on hand. Cassidy Secrist — McCreary’s roommate — will take over for Gettings.
“He has experience and also works at Gold’s Gym in East Wenatchee,” McCreary said. “He knows his stuff. He loves fitness; he’s almost over the top with it. We’ll be at home and it will be 11 p.m. and I’ll look over and he’ll be sitting on the ground doing ab exercises. I’m like, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’ He’s pretty hardcore, and a great guy.”
McCreary has a bright outlook for the club, even though it’s going to take some work to get it to where he wants it to be. But he’s never short on ideas.
“Everything has kind of fallen into line, but it’s been pretty chaotic trying to get everything together,” he said. “The first month will be hectic. I’ve got a list of 100 things to do.”
