‘American Gladiator’ – Themed Gym To Debut

The Tribune Chronicle:

An out-of-this-world experience is touted for a futuristic-style gym at the Eastwood Mall that will be the flagship for a franchise themed after a revived television show.

The workout center, slated for a May opening, will be known as American Gladiators Sports-Fitness Training.

‘It’s going to be like ‘Star Wars.’ It will be fantastic,’ John Ferraro Sr., who is heading the project along with sons, William and John Jr.

The facility will be geared for young people, he said. It will incorporate virtual reality into its exercise features.

The Ferraros are renovating and expanding the former Eastwood Fitness Center and Gold’s Gym. The elder Ferraro originally brought Gold’s Gym to the mall complex.

When finished, the renovated fitness center will be 30,000 square feet, he said. It will serve as the headquarters for what the family expects to be a worldwide franchise.

‘People ask me, why here?’ Ferraro said of Niles. ‘People here are no different than they are in Beverly Hills.’

A facade of the Coliseum in Rome is being built for the gym. It will offer a 40-foot atrium and a 20-foot waterfall.

American Gladiators will offer exercise facilities on three levels. Fitness challenge competitions will be staged among the club’s members and with representatives of other health centers, the owner said.