Closing of SAC

Hello, fellow SAC exiles. I don't know many of you by name, but I'm willing to bet that I have seen many of you around the gym and will be able to recognize you when we meet again at LA Fitness.

Like many of you who are reading this blog, I drove to SAC on Monday afternoon to work out on my way home from the office. As soon as I turned into the parking lot, I noticed the LA Fitness tent set up outside the main door, and I knew right away that something was terribly wrong. I got out of my car and approached the door, where I was greeted by some LA Fitness employees, who handed me a one-page letter from Lawrence Pope announcing the closing of the gym and the transfer of our memberships to LA Fitness.

I went inside to clean out my locker and spoke to Lawrence briefly before leaving. I think I was the last person to clean out his locker -- all the other lockers had been emptied. The whole place seemed so empty and dark. It felt like being at a funeral or a wake.

On the way home I stopped at LA Fitness to check the place out, but didn't feel like working out anymore -- especially not after seeing the huge crowd inside the LA Fitness center. I'll write about my first impressions in another entry.

So anyway, I'm still processing how I feel about all this: the loss of SAC and the involuntary transfer to LA Fitness, the abruptness of it all. I'm going to give LA Fitness a chance, I guess, but I am also going to evaluate all my other options. I will post my thoughts and findings here, along with any new developments as they occur.

I set up this blog and the corresponding website www.southlakeathletic.com so that we can all try to get organized and share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Pooling our knowledge and opinions in this way might help each of us make a more informed decision about where to go from here. In order for this to work, we have to get the word out about the website and blog -- so please spread the news to any former SAC members you know. I will be handing out cards with the website information to anyone I see at LA Fitness that I recognize from SAC.