Quote:
Originally Posted by fiddlehead
The point is, the health facilities that are currently in The Villages are NOT free!! the fees are in addition to the $140/month Village fee, so having a nice modern health club should not cost The Village any thing .... most decent towns have an indoor pool, and most health clubs will have a sauna, steam room and hot tub ... you can't tell me that 100,000 people can not support a private health club .... heck most LA Fitness's have those things for $29/month ... less than what The Village's fitness centers are!!
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I had looked forward to using the fitness facilities at the rec centers I had read about in promotional literature during my month's stay in The Villages last year. First of all, I was quite surprised to have to pay signiificant sums to use those at the rec centers which were small, overcrowded, offerered minimal weights, only a couple of benches, and a few machines. In size and amenities they reminded me of what one finds in a hotel or perhaps on a cruise ship. When I needed to use a rest room I had to walk all sweaty through the lobby area of the rec center, passing by nicely dressed people attending other activities. That felt strange and inappropriate. Worse, if I wanted to shower afterward or use a locker I would have had to go over to the other side of the rec center and use the shower adjacent the pool. I just changed my shirt and drove to the house I rented to shower. Thankfully I had a rental car so I did not sweat up my own car.
I pay $15/mo. to work out in Southern California at 24 Hour Fitness Centers all of which provide plenty of free weights, benches, aerobic equipment and exercise machines, a sauna and adjoining locker rooms having adequately sized lockers and showers. Some have indoor pools, steam rooms and more. Obviously, they need to operate at a profit to stay in business.
Fitness centers are inexpensive to build, equip and maintain compared to golf courses. It seems to me it would be advantageous to the developer to update and upscale TV's fitness centers - but if and only if TV's target market would sufficiently desire them.
From my observations during my visit and from following TOTV most villagers reside there for two primary reasons. The first is to escape harsh winter weather and the second is for the free/inexpensive golf - not necessarily in that order. In those regards TV offers a lot of bang for the buck. I was quite impressed by its affordability, cleanliness, and overall ambiance. Perhaps spacious and well equipped, nice but not posh fitness centers availble for use at reasonable cost are simply not sufficiently desired by most residents. I do not know. I do know they are for me and I hope some get built in TV by someone, somehow. Decent fitness centers would certainly help make The Villages Florida's healthiest home town!