Eagle Fitness opens Sparks gym

"I hated the way I was treated at other clubs," said Rene St.

Pierre, so he started his own gym, Eagle Fitness of Carson City.He vowed never to treat members like a number and after three years, the Carson City location had attracted over 3,000 members.

This month Eagle Fitness targets the Reno market with another gym on Vista Boulevard at Aspen Glen in Sparks.

St.

Pierre chose the location because there's no gym in the area to serve the burgeoning residential growth.

St.

Pierre credits service for the success of Eagle Fitness."We offer a month-to-month membership with no hassles," he said."If they want to quit, we let them quit." The newly remodeled location painted in earth tones is not flashy on the outside.

"We're more of a neighborhood gym," said St.

Pierre."We like to blend in with the neighborhood."

The inside is a different story, flush with $500,000 worth of brand new exercise equipment, according to St.

Pierre.

Remodeling the existing building took five months because a change in zoning laws was required to allow a gym into the shopping center.

The tenant, landlord and property manager shared that hefty re-zoning fee.

Miller Industrial Properties represented the landlord, Templeton Investment.

The 10,000-square-foot building once housed a pharmacy and a florist.

A massive cooler, a row of walls and 11 doors needed to be ripped out.

The concrete floor was cut to install plumbing for a locker room with showers.

Eagle Fitness is the first club to offer the ClubCom fitness software in northern Nevada, said St.

Pierre, although it is widely used in southern California and some Sacramento gyms.Members can use it to program personal music and video feeds, and to learn how to use the equipment properly.