Members of Stanwood gym arrive to find it abruptly shut down

STANWOOD — Eileen Carlson went to the gym Monday morning to lift weights and walk on the treadmill.

When the 73-year-old retired teacher returned for her daily workout Tuesday, the doors at Stanwood Team Fitness were locked.

A note on the door from Team Fitness owner Michael Liberato explained that negotiations to lease or purchase the building with landlord Brett Olson had broken down.

Since he did not want to leave dues-paying members in the lurch, the note said, Liberato offered free memberships for the remainder of May to Stanwood and Camano Island folks willing to drive about 25 miles to his gyms in Lake Stevens or Snohomish.

Carlson, who lives on south Camano Island, won’t be making that trip. She and her husband have already joined another fitness club in the uptown business park near Haggen in east Stanwood.

Many retired people were members of Team Fitness, as were young professionals and families with children.

“It was always crowded, so you know this is a hardship for a lot of people,” Carlson said. “No reimbursements for membership dues or special classes. Many people have personal belongings locked in the building. I feel bad for everybody.”

In April, the gym’s swimming pool was shut down. Many children in the Stanwood-Camano School District had their first lessons there from pool manager Tina Meyer.

The pool also was the Stanwood High School Spartan swim teams’ home pool. For some elderly patrons, swimming was their only form of exercise. The pool also was used for lifeguard lessons and firefighter water rescue training.

Outside of Marysville, it was the only 25-yard, six-lane regulation-size swimming pool in north Snohomish County. The 15-year-old pool recently was drained and locked, the result of a broken ventilation and heating system and a failing electrical system.

The Stanwood-Camano School District leased the Team Fitness pool for high school swim team practices and meets, said Spartan girls swim team coach Rita Brennan. The high school has 55 girls who compete in the fall and 35 boys who swim in the winter. Some on the high school team also swim with the Steelhead Swim Team, a 50-member club that includes kids ages 5 to 18, Brennan said.

A new nonprofit group, the Stanwood Camano Swimming Foundation, has been formed and is negotiating with building owner Brett Olson for use of the pool.

“It’s going to take nearly $300,000 to get the pool open and running again,” Brennan said. “But we are hopeful. Whatever transpires, we need a pool for the girls’ fall swim season, and that hasn’t happened yet.”

Members of the Steelhead Swim Club have been swimming in the cold waters of Warm Beach and trying to find time for turnouts in Camano Country Club’s small pool, the Anacortes city pool and the Marysville-Pilchuck High School pool, Brennan said.

Meyer said Liberato announced the gym closure on Monday at a staff meeting. She now is the manager of his Snohomish facility.

“His lawyers said to close the doors before the situation destroyed him completely,” Meyer said. “(Olson) would not fix or sell the facility.”

Liberato said the decision was a matter of the survival of his business.

“I got into this to help people,” Liberato said. “Closing Stanwood was the hardest decision I’ve made in my life.”

For some people the pool was the main draw to the gym, former club member Debbie Jensen said in an e-mail.

“I hope someone involved in this mess will step up, do the right thing and let us know how we are supposed to get our money back,” Jensen said.

Though not part of the nonprofit swim foundation, Meyer said she, too, wants the pool reopened.

“It’s a tough time and many pools around the country are closing,” she said.

Liberato told a gym full of people last month that his business had no money to fix the pool. The economy, declining club memberships and inherited building problems all played a part in the pool closure, he said then.

Olson said he also inherited a mess and hadn’t collected rent from Stanwood Team Fitness for more than a year. “It’s my building and I intend to work with the community, which needs and deserves a pool,” Olson said.

The gym and the pool are in need of restoration, Olson said, and that has to be done before anyone can move back in. He plans to meet with contractors next week, he said.

In addition, several individuals and some companies have come forward to talk about leasing the facility, Olson said.

“The best person would be someone who is local and has some capital,” he said. “People are going to be gun-shy, so we will have to earn their trust.”

Olson is considering opening his building for a couple hours Sunday afternoon for people to pick up their personal belongings.

“My ultimate goal is for this place to be successful,” Olson said. “The community deserves something they can count on. We’ve learned from the past. Let’s move on.”

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

You can help

To volunteer, donate or join the Stanwood Camano Swimming Foundation, call high school swim coach Rita Brennan at 425-220-8406 or Steelhead Swim Team director Steve Jenkins at 360-387-2721.