Under New Management —

Newtown Health & Fitness Looks To The Future

By Jeff White

Over the years, Newtown Health and Fitness Club has led a rocky existence, and Dorrie Carolan has been with the club for a good portion of those good and bad times. As it enters into its 20th year of operation, Mrs Carolan is excited about revamping the Commerce Road club and taking over the reins of management with fitness expert and trainer Dan Gaita.

“With the changes that are happening, this place is going to explode,” she says. In addition to an array of new equipment due to arrive in the upcoming weeks, much of the health club’s infrastructure and services will see improvement and fine-tuning.

Longtime owner George Arfaras, who over the past 20 years has provided Newtown with its only full service health and fitness club, recently agreed that the time had come for him to gradually step down from his leading role in club operations. He has handed over all service, fitness, aerobics, and public relations responsibilities to Mrs Carolan and Mr Gaita.

“This is going to become a more service oriented facility,” explains Mr Gaita. For his part, he will take over the fitness department as acting fitness director and head personal trainer. Mr Guida, who had a brief stint at the health club until 1998, has spent the past two years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of Connecticut’s football team, and as director of fitness for a health club in Ridgefield.

Mr Gaita holds certifications in pre- and post-natal fitness, weight training consultation and advance personal fitness training, all gained through the International Sport Medicine Association.

The major changes that he plans to bring to the club’s fitness department will start with establishing a highly trained, qualified staff. There are currently four personal trainers in house, along with one fitness trainer and 16 aerobic instructors. Mr Gaita plans to bring certification specialists to the health club, so that these trainers do not have to leave the premises to receive their re-certifications.

Mr Gaita’s position as the president of the International Personal Fitness Training Association will allow him to be able to test new industry products and services right in the health club, where he will be able to get member feedback. Already, three new sets of dumbbells are expected to arrive in the next few weeks, and an entire Hammer Strength system is on order, which will phase out the existing Nautilus equipment.

A group weight-training program is slated to begin, which will involve groups of two members with one trainer, aimed at simulating an effective training partnership, Mr Gaita says. The two-member groups will learn how to correctly train with each other, so eventually a personal trainer will not need to be present.

Mr Gaita also hopes to establish some competitive programs involving different activities, from racquetball and cycling to aerobics and weight training. The goals for members participating in these programs will be to reach predetermined fitness goals, with successful candidates winning prizes.

The improvements in the fitness and aerobics programs notwithstanding, many members will be more pleased to learn of the structural improvements slated to take place in the coming months.

Members have already noticed that the plain, white walls that made up the upstairs workout area have been painted a kind of plum color. This is the beginning of what Mrs Carolan says will be a renovation to the entire upstairs area, which will include new carpeting.

A leaky roof has been a bane for many longtime health club members. However, in the next 10 weeks Mrs Carolan plans on replacing the roof. “We cannot make interior improvements until we are assured they will be kept dry and protected,” she says. Moreover, a new computer-operated climate control system consisting of the installation of eight new air-conditioning units will be in place in the next six weeks.

The prospects of the new improvements that will come to Newtown Health and Fitness certainly have its managers excited. For Mrs Carolan, who has been affiliated with the club for 13 of its 20 years, the next few months will be a time when the club’s potential can be fully realized. “I have been spreading the word,” she says. “The energy level here has been incredible. Right now, we are the best this club has ever been.”

For his part, George Arfaras, who will remain Newtown Health and Fitness’ owner, is looking forward to having more time for himself. He noted last week that the past 20 years have been “very, very difficult,” but he remained confident that the daily running of his club is in good hands. “[Dorrie and Dan] are two very talented people, very knowledgeable,” he said.

Mr Arfaras also echoed a sentiment Mrs Carolan emphasizes, that the club’s members are to be commended for sticking by the club through good times and bad. “People join this club because of the people.”

In order to reach out to old members of the health club that have since gone elsewhere, Newtown Health and Fitness is offering a two-week membership for old members to come back and try out the facility again. Both Mrs Carolan and Mr Gaita hope the changes old members see, along with the renovations to come, will bring many people back to the health club.

“Most of us know everyone that comes in by name, and the aerobic instructors are great,” Mrs Carolan explains. “The people at the front desk are friendly. That’s what we sell our membership on.”