A Chattanooga fitness club that was a pioneer in the renaissance of the central city will close its downtown site at the end of the month.
The Sportsbarn will shut its location at 301 Market St. on Feb. 28 after 44 years, though it will keep open centers in East Brainerd and Hixson, said David Brock, the Sportsbarn's president.
"The Sportsbarn is all about relationships," he said in a telephone interview Friday about the planned downtown closing. "That's what this whole business is about. That will be missed."
A Chattanooga development group is purchasing the brick building downtown that has held the original Sportsbarn club since 1979.
Todd Phillips, president of the private equity investment firm Noon Management, said in an earlier interview that the group also is buying the Sportsbarn's 240-space parking garage across Market Street.
The official said Noon is working on the best future use of the 40,000-square-foot building, which gives the company the entire Market Street block. That includes the John Ross Building at Market and Fourth streets, where Noon is extensively revamping the structure for Steam Logistics' new headquarters.
Brock recalled that a group led by the late Alex Guerry, the former chief executive of over-the-counter medicine maker Chattem, opened the downtown Sportbarn in 1979 when the central city was struggling.
"It was abandoned," he said about downtown. "It was a wreck. This guy took a chance in the city. It was really amazing that they did that."
Brock, whose group purchased the Sportsbarn in 2007, said the club has about 3,500 account holders with roughly 8,000 people using the facilities.
"It's a profitable, nice small business built on relationships," he said.
But the COVID-19 pandemic hurt the venture like many others, and the downtown center hasn't recovered as the other two locations, Brock said.
"A lot of business is still not there," he said. "The business is still profitable, but it hasn't recovered like the two other clubs have. The other two clubs ... are pretty close."
The pandemic led to several key downtown companies, such as BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Unum and the Tennessee Valley Authority to allow more of their employees to work from home.
Still, Brock said the real estate downtown is valuable and the buyers recognize that fact.
"The real estate is worth more than the business," the Sportsbarn chief said. He declined to reveal the sales price.
He said that section of downtown has changed through the years as more tourists gravitate to the riverfront district.
"Tourists and business travelers are walking around," Brock said. "It has changed from what it was. That part of town where we are really has evolved."
A plan overseen by downtown nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co. has called for actions to inject more energy into the waterfront area typically seen as Fourth Street to the Tennessee River. In addition, River City is taking a fresh look at Broad Street from the Tennessee Aquarium to M.L. King Boulevard and has embarked on a block-by-block study of that downtown artery.
Brock said the downtown club plans to hold a gathering Feb. 17 for members and others.
"Members are emotionally attached to the place," he said.
Anyone can put a piece of equipment in a garage, Brock said, but people come to the Sportsbarn to see one another.
"It's bittersweet in a way," he said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
Staff photo by Mike Pare / The entrance to the Sportsbarn's downtown location at 301 Market St. is shown on Dec. 28.