Fitness ctr. draws crowds

The new Katz Fitness Center has enrolled over 5,000 people so far. The new, $1.2 million Katz Fitness Center inside Gimbel Gymnasium has proved a bigger success than University officials had ever have imagined, as more than 5,000 students, faculty members and staff have already signed up, Penn's recreation director said. In addition, yesterday's closing of longtime campus gym University City Nautilus -- a development its manager said is unrelated to the Penn center's opening on September 9 -- could add as many as 300 former members of the business to Gimbel's rolls. Although breakdowns by each category of member and length of membership were not immediately available, the figure means that the University has already received, at the very least, $250,000 in fees related to the center, and that more than one-eighth of Penn's approximately 40,000 students, faculty members and staff have joined. The "numbers indicate that students want the amenities that are going to make a difference," said Recreation Director Mike Diorka. He said officials "only projected around 2,000 would join." The figure is current as of two weeks ago, he said. The fitness center, which covers 7,500 square feet on two floors of Gimbel at 37th and Walnut streets, has a full range of equipment, from treadmills, bicycles and stairclimbers to free weights and weight machines. At the time of its closing, UC Nautilus -- which shut down to make room for the Robert Redford-co-owned Sundance Cinemas movie complex, scheduled to break ground in January -- had about 200 students and 100 local residents as members. Bob Stern, manager of the gym on 40th and Locust streets, acknowledged Gimbel's tremendous popularity and said he expects the new center to be even more popular following the closing of his exercise facility, which has been on campus for 20 years. "Most people will go to Gimbel," Stern said of his former patrons. Not only is it the "newest and the nicest around," but "nobody can touch the price," he added. A year-long membership at Gimbel costs $75 for students and $200 for faculty and staff. Semester-long memberships cost $50 for students, $80 for faculty and staff and $100 for alumni and community residents. Although UC Nautilus saw a "very significant drop" in membership after the opening of the new fitness center, Stern emphasized that the establishment closed because of the theater construction and not the increased competition. "We would have stayed in business if we had a place to do business. Gimbel was zero percent of the decision. I think we would have survived," he said, adding that "in the last week or so, business picked up." According to Stern, UC Nautilus will either offer its members total refunds or transfer their membership to another local gym. No plans have been finalized.