White said that he’ll miss the street theater of downtown Santa Cruz, which he would watch while on the cardio machines. Belito said that compared to the now shuttered downtown location, where classes were held in a separate building, the Ocean Street club can accommodate all the equipment and classes in one space. Longtime Toadal […]
White said that he’ll miss the street theater of downtown Santa Cruz, which he would watch while on the cardio machines.
Belito said that compared to the now shuttered downtown location, where classes were held in a separate building, the Ocean Street club can accommodate all the equipment and classes in one space. Longtime Toadal Fitness members like local author Dan White share Belito’s mixed feelings about the now closed downtown location. White said that he has been a member at the club since it opened when he was still a reporter at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
White said that the setup at the new location could use some work, but it has the same friendly vibe that he’s used to and it’s closer to where he lives.
He recalled one day when a guy was using the windows to fix his hair and after he was finished gave his reflection two thumbs up, “like the Fonz in ‘Happy Days.’” Although Belito said he was sad to sell the building downtown, he is more excited about the Ocean Street club, and when construction is complete on the library project in the coming years, he will have the option to open a club in the new building.
“It’s nostalgic for me and a lot of the members, but the downtown buidling is old and beaten up and the new club is so much better in every way,” Menze said. “The new building has been a little weird at first, but in a week or so it will feel just like home.”
Before opening a gym in downtown Santa Cruz in 1996, Toadal Fitness founder Christophe Belito opened his first fitness club in the East Bay. He said that there, he made all the beginner mistakes and learned lessons that helped make his next business venture successful. The new place has a spacious parking lot and it’s not close to anything that would attract parking-space hogs,” said White. “I really like the upstairs free weights area. It’s got so much room.”
Menze joked that the 113 Lincoln St. building was held together “by duct tape and chewing gum,” and that it is likely haunted. Although he’ll miss the building with all of its quirks, he is as excited as Belito to move to the new digs on Ocean Street with bigger classrooms, nicer locker rooms and more parking.
“One of my friends, who owned Cabrillo Fitness called me and told me there was a club in Santa Cruz that was going out of business,” said Belito. “Then I talked to the landlords, who became my friend, and we signed a lease with them and that was it. We started the club there.”
“They set up the elliptical machines right against the front window, which I think was tinted, so passersby couldn’t really spy on us while we were working out,” White said. “But from the inside, everyone in that gym had a front row seat to the vitality, bustle and weirdness of downtown Santa Cruz. When I worked out close to the window, I would see crowds of tourists, and watch people buying knick-knacks and clothes at the local antique fair. Sometimes I’d see couples getting into huge loud arguments right in front of me, not realizing I could see everything. And since lots of passersby would use those front windows as a mirror, I’d see people checking themselves out all the time. It was this odd combination of self-consciousness and vanity.”
“I’ll miss feeling like I’m at the center of everything when I’m working out,” said White. “It feels like so many things get pushed out or phased out of the downtown area in Santa Cruz. I’ll miss the time when it felt like everything was there.”
“We’re not into the bodybuilding scene,” said Belito. “That’s why we call ourselves a club.” “One of my favorite members comes in every day and all three of his daughters work out there too,” said Menze. “Once they all came in at the same time while he was pumping iron and lined up to give their dad a hug and a smooch. They were so pumped to see their dad. A lot of the regulars have become friends.”
“This one has everything in one building with two floors and lots of windows and parking, which was always an issue downtown,” said Belito. “We like new stuff, more space and less waiting. That’s a good thing.” “Several other reporters worked out there,” White said. “I’d go after my work shift, or if I knew I’d have to work late, I’d work out on my lunch break. I remember getting into a bench-pressing contest with one of the Sentinel’s administrative assistants, a competitive swimmer who could lift her own bodyweight. She dared me to see if I could lift the equivalent of my weight, so I spent the next few months working obsessively towards that goal, and even asking staff and regulars to help me achieve this every day. In fact, the downtown Toadal is where I first heard work-out expressions such as ‘it’s all you’ and ‘you got this!’ and ‘put another dime on it,’ which means put a 10-pound weight on either side of this barbell.”
SANTA CRUZ — After nearly three decades operating out of downtown Santa Cruz, the owners, staff and members of Toadal Fitness have bid farewell to the fitness club’s original location to make way for the new library site and housing project, and opened up a new upgraded club on Ocean Street. The relocation was prompted by the city’s plans to build the new Downtown Branch of the Santa Cruz Library along with a mixed-use building and parking garage on the lot where the downtown Toadal was located. Santa Cruz Development Manager Brian Borguno with the city’s Economic Development Department told the Sentinel that there is not a definitive date for the demolition of the building at 113 Lincoln St., but it will likely occur in the early phase of construction later this summer. He said a formal groundbreaking for the project is tentatively planned for August or September.
Emilio Menze, who has worked at Toadal Fitness since 2017 and been a member since 2008, currently served as one of club’s downtown and now Ocean Street club managers. Although he grew up and lives in Aptos, he landed a gig at the downtown location and bonded quickly to the regular members there. “We opened more than one club because we don’t like people to have to wait for equipment,” said Belito. “If you go into the club and have to wait for everything, it’s not enjoyable. That’s why we opened more clubs, not to make more money, but because I hate for people to wait.”
Since opening their first location downtown, Toadal Fitness has grown to include clubs all over Santa Cruz County from Scotts Valley to Watsonville and its most recent addition on Ocean Street. Belito said that his motivation to open more clubs was never about making more money.
Belito, who is French, called the first Santa Cruz club “Frog Fitness” to poke fun at his nationality, but was soon facing a potential lawsuit from a fitness club in San Diego with a similar name, so he decided to change the name of his business to Toadal Fitness. Belito explained that Toadal Fitness was always meant to be a fun, friendly and relaxed space for everyday people to get their blood pumping.
“I love the fact that I can run to the gym, lift for an hour or so and then run back to the house.” he said.
White mentioned, like Belito, that the parking for the downtown location was sparse and problematic and that non-members would often park in the space designated for Toadal Fitness, which won’t be a problem at the new location.
