Ron Stoffer and Ralph Davis work out on the treadmills.

W

ith renovations to its
health clubs shaping up,
the Jewish Community
Center must now convince
ex-members and non-
members that the clubs
pass fitness muster.
The hurdles are high
but are by no means insurmountable.
Obviously, the JCC must compete with
other health clubs like the Sports Club
of West Bloomfield, where many former
JCC members are said to belong, Franklin
Racquet Club, Powerhouse Gym, Gold's
Gym and others, said JCC Executive Di-
rector David Sorkin.
"In the past, we didn't have to have the
best equipment because when you came,
your chaver (friend) was there. We have
to be competitive with early childhood care,
too," he added.
He pointed out that socio-economic
shifts have sent women into the workplace
and into the workout clubs, necessitating
the expansion of both fitness and child-
care areas. When the West Bloomfield

JCC was built in the early 1970s, it was a
"man's world," he noted.
And today, Jews are no longer unwel-
come at private clubs.
In early 1995, the Center offered a two-
for-one membership deal. Early this year,
it opened its doors to non-Jews. Beginning
last month, the JCC began offering a 30-
percent discount on health-club member-
ships to new members.
Since August, the JCC has spent
$200,000 on new exercise equipment,
$25,000 of which was installed at the 3-
year-old health club at the Jimmy Pren-
tis Morris branch in Oak Park. By the end
of the month, the updating of the locker
rooms and recarpeting of the health club
at Maple-Drake in West Bloomfield will
be finished. That branch is also scheduled
to get the "Cardio Theater," which allows
exercisers to plug individual headphones
into the TV program they wish to watch.
That would be a good thing for Dr. Shel-
don Gonte, a 6-year health-club member
who wears headphones to block out the
incessant noise from the TVs.

"Here I am working out, I'm listening
to CNN, and I've got a headache," he said.
While Dr. Gonte likes the Maple-Drake
health club offerings, he wishes the Cen-
ter offered more family-oriented activities.
Bringing his 4year-old daughter to swim
isn't easy because he must navigate
through the women's locker room. He also
wishes the babysitting hours were ex-
tended.
`That's why membership is down. How
many 30-year-olds do you see here?" he
said.
Other health-club members at Maple-
Drake and JPM complain about the lack
of younger members, odd hours, mediocre
aerobics classes, high membership dues
and occasional waits to use machines. Yet,
none plans to find another club.
"I think it's fun that they're trying to
improve, but I was not unhappy with it
before. I know a lot of other people were,"
said Susan Grant, a West Bloomfield
mother who works out at Maple-Drake
four or five days each week.
Ilene, a longtime Maple-Drake health

club member who did not want her last
name published, said club hours on Fri-
day, in particular, are "unattractive" for
working people. And the best aerobics
classes are taught before most people have
left work for the day, she said, explaining
that the evening classes are not as rigor-
ous.
"I used to see a lot of people I know, but
a lot less people are here now," she said,
adding that many of them belong to the
Sports Club.
Attorney Michelle Zeltzer, 25, returned
from California a few months ago. She's
been working out at Maple-Drake since
her parents bought her a JCC health-club
membership.
"It's not a bad health club, but there
aren't many around here that aren't," she
said.
Ms. Zeltzer believes the JCC is too ex-
pensive, but neither the nearby Sports
Club ("too gossipy") nor Powerhouse Gym
appeals to her, and she wishes there were
more younger members.
Alissa Steiner, a psychotherapist who