“You had some information in January about the Gold’s Gym opening in March or April. It is now April. I never see anyone over there working on the new building. You talked to the people at the gym, but is it possible to get information right from the city to see how they are with their permits and to see what Gold’s Gym says – to see what the actual truth is about when they will be opening their facility.”
Red Phone: Dear Sweating It Out, The last we heard from them was on Jan. 6, when a gym spokesperson said they had received the necessary permits and were just waiting for contractors to begin work. It’s been a long time in the waiting for guests and for the gym itself, which is currently renting both the current facility on San Ysidro and the new facility across the street.
Gold’s is still finalizing the bids for contractors and should have that process completed in a couple weeks, said manager Ginda Singh. Once the bid is accepted, the gym will start construction, which he was hoping will begin by the first week of May. The project will take about three months to complete, with the exception of the pool, he said. The pool could take another three to six months while the additional permits are secured.
The city reviewed the plans in September and requested some updates and corrections from architect MDM Architects of Walnut Creek, said David Chung, a Gilroy building official. After much conversation between the two parties, Chung said he expects to receive the final updates from the architect next week. If everything is resolved, the business permit will be issued in about two weeks and the construction could then begin, he said.
A major concern was turning the building – designed to house businesses like Petco and Russell’s Furniture – into a place of recreation, which is considered an assembly use, Chung said. Both uses have different Building Code requirements. A building used for assembly is required to have fire insulation between the assembly and the adjacent store, and there has to be a seismic evaluation of the building, he said.
