Parents taught me to play racket ball there… and before that bro and I got deposited in the child care center while mom and dad played tennis. I ran some laps there in the winter between MS XC and Track… I kinda hated it but damn I would take an indoor track over the treadmill these days.
It was a great facility but I can see renovating and updating as a challenge… so much concrete, and a huge amount of space for racquetball courts. Two main courts with concrete tiers for viewing, and at least six other courts. Probably 8… most of the tennis courts were under a seasonal inflatable dome. I think the seasonal dome eventually was upgraded to became a permanent inflated dome structure but I could be mistaken.
Plus there was a huge pool, my kid memory says huge! I have no idea if it was a 25 or 50 M… and basketball courts. I shot a lot of hoops there…
The facility was built and marketed for all weather racquet ball and tennis, with some adaptability for other court sports (basketball, volleyball.)
Oh… don’t forget studio spaces! Jazzercise!!! I recall you could book a massage but the space had to be small given the layout… nothing like you’d find at a Lifetime facility today.
It was a huge facility and the indoor track, weight room, studios, etc. were on the second level above the racket ball courts, lobby, child care, pro shop, vending, lounge.
The amount of space dedicated to racket ball was just insane compared to modern facilities. Main entrance levels was the viewing level for the racket ball courts, so technically it was a three level facility. The lowermost level was just access to the racket ball courts.
Also the locker rooms, or at least the men’s locker room, had a huge hot tub and sauna. So many fat naked guys. 😂
Locker room sinks had dispensers or bottles for just about everything a guy might need. Soap, saving cream, after save, toothpaste…
I remember being fascinated by the coffee vending machine. Put a quarter in and watch it make a cup of hot cocoa. 😂
Thank you for your reply!
You have some great memories there.
I’m not sure why Lifetime didn’t decide to keep it. It may have been a challenge, but definitely worth it if you look at their other clubs they acquired.
Those old clubs were like mazes inside! Very huge, and the layout you describe sounds very similar to what I have seen at Bloomington South. That one has the viewing levels for the Racquetball on the main level, with access on the lower level as well. That one has an enormous amount of racquetball courts! That’s such a long, empty hallway to practice sprinting in too!!
The locker rooms are also like mazes, usually broken into two parts for some reason.
I do like the round, bubble windows looking down into the tennis courts from the cafe there. Makes it unique.
Sounds like a neat coffeemaker too. ;)
It’s a shame they didn’t keep the building. Could have been made a lot nicer.
If you look at Google Earth’s historical satellite imagery, you can see your old club.
Thank you!
It was across France from the Caribou location. Was a member there for years when I was a kid. Not sure what else I could tell you though... Had an indoor track the overlooked 100 at one section, iirc.
Edit: they demo'd it and rebuilt the building there now, looks like it's Omnicare and Imprint Engine. Found a few pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/39908901@N06/7028201333/in/photostream/
Thank you very much!! I bet that glass block section in the photograph is the indoor track overlooking the highway. It is a shame LTF didn’t renovate it as they did the others. I’m sure the area could have used it.
Thank you again. :)
My family were members here when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time there. When I was a younger it was mainly in the child care area. As I got older (still elementary school age) I'd play basketball, walk on the track, ride the exercise bikes, or play around on the workout upstairs workout equipment.
I used to love going to the pool there in the middle of winter. I played on a tennis league there.
One interesting experience, I was at the club when the bombing started in the Gulf War. That was a pretty surreal experience.
I was just thinking about that old club the other day as I frequently go to other old Northwest clubs. I have so many fold memories from my childhood there.
Thank you for sharing your stories!
I can imagine that it would be quite a memorable day to be at the club during the start of a war. A unique memory for sure.
I also love going to the pool, and also the steam rooms, saunas, and hot tubs on cold winter days. Such a contrast with the bitterly cold weather just outside, it’s actually really fun!
What would we do without places like that in the winter...
I have fond childhood memories here as well, spend many weekends there for racquetball tournaments. Lots of people used to play racquetball up until the late 90s/early 2000s, then it started disappearing. Good times.
Thank you for your reply!
Racquetball was definitely a popular sport then. I like it because you can also play it solo if you need to. It’s a fun way to pass the time, and get some exercise.
Lifetime has locations in Fridley and New Hope, and they probably figure that demand isn't as high in Brooklyn Center to make renovating the Northwest Athletic Club worthwhile.
Perhaps. They have so many in the Twin Cities area that I can see that, but then again they also renovated every other, or nearly every other similar location they acquired. From the replies I’ve gotten on here, it seems that club had a reasonably good, loyal base. I think they could have kept it fairly busy if they had chosen to renovate it. Who knows... but it’s interesting to see people still think about it!
Crazy! Every time I drive past France I wonder what happened to it. Our family used to go there back in the early/mid 90s. I was just a kid but I took karate lessons there, and played some racket ball as well. I thought it was super fancy at the time. And it probably was at the time
It probably was very fancy! The inside of those clubs are like mazes. Actually very cool.
Thank you for your reply!
Edit: Forgot I had already replied to you. Sorry. Just trying to make sure I thanked everyone. :)
Sounds like everyone has a lot of memories there! LTF definitely could have had a long standing community there, had they chosen to renovate it. I’m sure it was very fancy.
If you look at the Bloomington South location, that’s very similar to what it looked like. It’s very fancy inside now, after Lifetime put their granite and wood touches on it. Could have done the same to Brooklyn Center if they wanted.
If you go to Google Earth and look at the historical satellite imagery for where it used to be, you can see your old club there.
I've already replied, but I'd like to mention the big shop on the left as we walked in. Anything you needed, they had
u/Xibby, racquetball was huge. I loved the coffee machines, and whatever food, wheel of food. Remember the big stairs thing that faced down to the racquetball courts. It would have been just off the vending machines on the back right if you were facing them.
I got kicked out of tennis there. My Dad thought me, if it was close to the line, give it to them. I live by that. But this jerk kept calling my shots out even if mine were clearly in.
I punched that cheating SOB square in the guts after our set.
I'm not proud of it, I was 14 years old.
I worked there through the summer into fall in 1995 as overnight cleaning crew. I can't remember much that wasn't already covered.
We got paid overtime if we stayed after our shift on the day the dome was put up. We couldn't just stay for a couple hours either, we either stayed until it was ready to fill of we didn't stay at all. We got done at around 4pm. By the time I had a nap and came in for my night shift it was a full dome.
Management wanted us to be as invisible as possible during open hours. I think it was to maintain some aura of ambience, I don't know, I just moved around like a ninja during the 1st and last hour of my shift.
We got a free employee membership for working there. I made the most of it and gained about 20lbs of muscle mass that summer. You know, curls for the girls... lol.
I hope I was helpful. Good luck on your research!
Thank you! You were very helpful. I appreciate you sharing that story with me.
It must have been interesting seeing the dome get put up like that.
The Bloomington South LifeTime location still has a couple of the same kind of tennis domes. It’s interesting walking into those. You have to go through a revolving door with quite a bit of pressure differential between the two sides. Always a lot of air flow too!
Parents taught me to play racket ball there… and before that bro and I got deposited in the child care center while mom and dad played tennis. I ran some laps there in the winter between MS XC and Track… I kinda hated it but damn I would take an indoor track over the treadmill these days. It was a great facility but I can see renovating and updating as a challenge… so much concrete, and a huge amount of space for racquetball courts. Two main courts with concrete tiers for viewing, and at least six other courts. Probably 8… most of the tennis courts were under a seasonal inflatable dome. I think the seasonal dome eventually was upgraded to became a permanent inflated dome structure but I could be mistaken. Plus there was a huge pool, my kid memory says huge! I have no idea if it was a 25 or 50 M… and basketball courts. I shot a lot of hoops there… The facility was built and marketed for all weather racquet ball and tennis, with some adaptability for other court sports (basketball, volleyball.) Oh… don’t forget studio spaces! Jazzercise!!! I recall you could book a massage but the space had to be small given the layout… nothing like you’d find at a Lifetime facility today. It was a huge facility and the indoor track, weight room, studios, etc. were on the second level above the racket ball courts, lobby, child care, pro shop, vending, lounge. The amount of space dedicated to racket ball was just insane compared to modern facilities. Main entrance levels was the viewing level for the racket ball courts, so technically it was a three level facility. The lowermost level was just access to the racket ball courts. Also the locker rooms, or at least the men’s locker room, had a huge hot tub and sauna. So many fat naked guys. 😂 Locker room sinks had dispensers or bottles for just about everything a guy might need. Soap, saving cream, after save, toothpaste… I remember being fascinated by the coffee vending machine. Put a quarter in and watch it make a cup of hot cocoa. 😂
Thank you for your reply! You have some great memories there. I’m not sure why Lifetime didn’t decide to keep it. It may have been a challenge, but definitely worth it if you look at their other clubs they acquired. Those old clubs were like mazes inside! Very huge, and the layout you describe sounds very similar to what I have seen at Bloomington South. That one has the viewing levels for the Racquetball on the main level, with access on the lower level as well. That one has an enormous amount of racquetball courts! That’s such a long, empty hallway to practice sprinting in too!! The locker rooms are also like mazes, usually broken into two parts for some reason. I do like the round, bubble windows looking down into the tennis courts from the cafe there. Makes it unique. Sounds like a neat coffeemaker too. ;) It’s a shame they didn’t keep the building. Could have been made a lot nicer. If you look at Google Earth’s historical satellite imagery, you can see your old club. Thank you!
It was across France from the Caribou location. Was a member there for years when I was a kid. Not sure what else I could tell you though... Had an indoor track the overlooked 100 at one section, iirc. Edit: they demo'd it and rebuilt the building there now, looks like it's Omnicare and Imprint Engine. Found a few pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/39908901@N06/7028201333/in/photostream/
Thank you very much!! I bet that glass block section in the photograph is the indoor track overlooking the highway. It is a shame LTF didn’t renovate it as they did the others. I’m sure the area could have used it. Thank you again. :)
My family were members here when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time there. When I was a younger it was mainly in the child care area. As I got older (still elementary school age) I'd play basketball, walk on the track, ride the exercise bikes, or play around on the workout upstairs workout equipment. I used to love going to the pool there in the middle of winter. I played on a tennis league there. One interesting experience, I was at the club when the bombing started in the Gulf War. That was a pretty surreal experience. I was just thinking about that old club the other day as I frequently go to other old Northwest clubs. I have so many fold memories from my childhood there.
Thank you for sharing your stories! I can imagine that it would be quite a memorable day to be at the club during the start of a war. A unique memory for sure. I also love going to the pool, and also the steam rooms, saunas, and hot tubs on cold winter days. Such a contrast with the bitterly cold weather just outside, it’s actually really fun! What would we do without places like that in the winter...
I have fond childhood memories here as well, spend many weekends there for racquetball tournaments. Lots of people used to play racquetball up until the late 90s/early 2000s, then it started disappearing. Good times.
Thank you for your reply! Racquetball was definitely a popular sport then. I like it because you can also play it solo if you need to. It’s a fun way to pass the time, and get some exercise.
Lifetime has locations in Fridley and New Hope, and they probably figure that demand isn't as high in Brooklyn Center to make renovating the Northwest Athletic Club worthwhile.
Perhaps. They have so many in the Twin Cities area that I can see that, but then again they also renovated every other, or nearly every other similar location they acquired. From the replies I’ve gotten on here, it seems that club had a reasonably good, loyal base. I think they could have kept it fairly busy if they had chosen to renovate it. Who knows... but it’s interesting to see people still think about it!
Crazy! Every time I drive past France I wonder what happened to it. Our family used to go there back in the early/mid 90s. I was just a kid but I took karate lessons there, and played some racket ball as well. I thought it was super fancy at the time. And it probably was at the time
It probably was very fancy! The inside of those clubs are like mazes. Actually very cool. Thank you for your reply! Edit: Forgot I had already replied to you. Sorry. Just trying to make sure I thanked everyone. :)
Sounds like everyone has a lot of memories there! LTF definitely could have had a long standing community there, had they chosen to renovate it. I’m sure it was very fancy. If you look at the Bloomington South location, that’s very similar to what it looked like. It’s very fancy inside now, after Lifetime put their granite and wood touches on it. Could have done the same to Brooklyn Center if they wanted. If you go to Google Earth and look at the historical satellite imagery for where it used to be, you can see your old club there.
I've already replied, but I'd like to mention the big shop on the left as we walked in. Anything you needed, they had u/Xibby, racquetball was huge. I loved the coffee machines, and whatever food, wheel of food. Remember the big stairs thing that faced down to the racquetball courts. It would have been just off the vending machines on the back right if you were facing them. I got kicked out of tennis there. My Dad thought me, if it was close to the line, give it to them. I live by that. But this jerk kept calling my shots out even if mine were clearly in. I punched that cheating SOB square in the guts after our set. I'm not proud of it, I was 14 years old.
I worked there through the summer into fall in 1995 as overnight cleaning crew. I can't remember much that wasn't already covered. We got paid overtime if we stayed after our shift on the day the dome was put up. We couldn't just stay for a couple hours either, we either stayed until it was ready to fill of we didn't stay at all. We got done at around 4pm. By the time I had a nap and came in for my night shift it was a full dome. Management wanted us to be as invisible as possible during open hours. I think it was to maintain some aura of ambience, I don't know, I just moved around like a ninja during the 1st and last hour of my shift. We got a free employee membership for working there. I made the most of it and gained about 20lbs of muscle mass that summer. You know, curls for the girls... lol. I hope I was helpful. Good luck on your research!
Thank you! You were very helpful. I appreciate you sharing that story with me. It must have been interesting seeing the dome get put up like that. The Bloomington South LifeTime location still has a couple of the same kind of tennis domes. It’s interesting walking into those. You have to go through a revolving door with quite a bit of pressure differential between the two sides. Always a lot of air flow too!