Construction Update

With construction at 28th St well underway, we wanted to give you a quick sense of what we’re working on and where we’re heading. Broadly speaking, we’ll be hitting (in order) three categories of stuff: the locker rooms, the front desk / private entrance, and a slew of smaller odds and ends that will make the space more usable and attractive.

1. Locker Rooms

While CrossFit boxes tend to be industrial in feel, we wanted to make sure that our bathrooms are a sanctuary from the craziness of the floor. So behind the big blue walls, we’re currently building out the men’s locker room to a standard that should measure up well against any other high-end gym in NYC. We’re aiming to have it open and usable by early September.

Because each locker room is being constructed with ‘cabin style’ toilets and showers – ie, each is entirely enclosed in its own little separate room, with only the sinks shared – we’ll then be able to use the Men’s side initially as a unisex locker room, providing as much privacy as at 26th St (with its similar cabin style showers and toilets) while we build out the women’s side.

By the end of October, we should have both locker rooms fully functional. And because we’re using mostly stone and high-end tile, and venting the hell out of things, we think the bathrooms will not only look great when they’re new, we can also keep them looking great over time.

2. Front Desk / Private Entrance

In the northwest corner of the gym, where we’re currently storing construction supplies, we’ll then be punching a hole through the floor, to turn the current service entrance into a new, glass-fronted private entrance. We’ll be installing a single flight of double-wide steel stairs, so we’ll be able to easily run in and out for WODs. And we’ll be hanging a rope down from the second floor, should anyone wish to climb up instead. (Seriously.)

You can see from the circular cut in the flooring the shape of the reception desk, which will enclose an area for cubbies, waiting benches, sign in boards (which will shortly be going digital), etc.

The only downside for the members is that we’ll again be able to regularly program Murph, Helen and Michael. (Related note: now might therefore be a good time to hit some Running WODs with Coach Heidi – we’re up to 15 RWOD classes per week.)

3. Other Stuff

In parallel with the two major portions of the build, we’ll be doing a lot of small stuff, too. You’ve probably noticed the incoming pull-up bars and ring / rope beams, which will keep going in until we’ve essentially put them up everywhere we can.

We’ll also be installing acoustic tiling along the ceilings and the top of the walls, so members will be able to hear their coaches. We’ll be putting up a giant wall-mounted clock in each quadrant, so we can run time for each separate class in a visible way. And we’ll be installing a ceiling-mounted, downward-facing speaker system that will allow us to turn music up and down in individual quadrants, rather than blasting it across the entire space.

We’ll also be covering pretty much any wall space below eight feet with metal armored plating, so dragging sneakers during handstand pushups won’t mark up (or tear apart) the walls. And we’ll be putting in real wall ball targets, rather than throwing at strips of painters tape.

We’re doing our best to manage construction logistics along the way to disrupt the flow of classes as little as possible. And we’re adding classes, coaches, and additional space as needed, as we try to keep up with demand. (As of next week, we’ll be running 193 WOD classes per week. Ans as soon as we’re done with the 28th St build, we’ll be starting all over again at yet another nearby location, which will be geared mainly toward intermediate and advanced members, allowing 28th St to be devoted primarily to Elements and beginner WODs.)

We appreciate your patience, and honestly think that, once we’re done with the 28th St build in late fall, it will be the nicest CrossFit box in the country.