The bowling pins at Eagle Rock Lanes in West Orange are all gone. So are the racks of balls with the finger holes that never seemed to fit and the snack bar that served up greasy burgers and fries frame after frame.
Say goodbye to the Tuesday night bowling league and say hello to Iron Culture, the new high-end gym dedicated to building body and mind that opened this week.
The man behind the transformation of a dusty bowling alley to hardcore gym is Arthur Imperatore, Jr., the former NY Waterway executive and bodybuilder who left the Hudson River ferry business and founded the Iron Culture brand.
The West Orange location, with its 26,000 square feet of space cast in industrial lighting, is Iron Culture’s third location after Cedar Knolls and North Bergen.
“I picked the name Iron Culture for a reason,” he said. “Working out is a lifestyle, a discipline, a way of going about your daily life. So it’s not just about looking good at the beach, although there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Imperatore said Iron Culture isn’t just about building a healthy body, but a strong mind as well. The staff of trainers work to develop personalized workout programs with the goal of having people look good and feel good about themselves, he said.
“Think of a gym as a therapeutic community,” Imperatore said. “It’s not just a place to go to lose a few pounds and look good in a swimsuit.”
Imperatore, 62, grew up in Englewood and has been going to the gym since he was 15. “I know gyms,” he said. “I like gyms. I’ve been coming to gyms nearly all my life.”
Imperatore said he’s been to plenty of what he calls “meathead gyms” over the years – basic, no-frills spaces that don’t offer much besides benches and barbells. Iron Culture is designed to be much more than a place to groan and sweat.
“Our core market is people who are really committed to fitness,” Imperatore said. “But we want to expand beyond that and bring the gym lifestyle to as many people as possible, because working out is the best anti-depressant and the best anti-anxiety medication.”
Following this week’s soft opening, the gym is now establishing its regular schedule with marathon business hours. It is open weekdays from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. and weekends from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Membership is $150 a month and $200 for access to all three Iron Culture locations, he said.
Imperatore said he hired a British company that specializes in high-end gyms to gut and redesign Eagle Rock Lanes, a 1950s-era building with a truss roof that was ideal for hanging industrial track lighting.
One of the wooden lanes was carved into a conference table, and Imperatore said he kept one bowling pin and a ball that he plans to put into a display case. He’s looking for someone willing to haul away the neon “bowling” sign still standing at the entrance to the parking lot.
There are no TV screens blaring endless reruns of Sports Center. There’s no music thumping over the intercom, or harsh fluorescent lighting to bathe – or bake – in.
Instead there’s dim track lighting hung from the truss ceiling that gives each workout station a kind of glow. There are plenty of mirrors and a “posing room” where bodybuilders can check their look.
The machines are set in rows according to the body part they work on – one row for shoulders, one for legs, the other for chests. Stationary bikes, ski machines, stair climbers and treadmills are also set in rows.
Imperatore said working out can be a transformative experience, and Iron Culture is not just for the hardcore bodybuilder.
“Our message to people is, ‘you can do it, and we’re here to help you do it,’” he said. “Weight-lifting is generally thought to be a solitary experience, but here you actually feel like you are part of something larger because everybody else is committed to the same goals.”
The cocktail lounge and snack bar that once served alcohol and greasy fare has been replaced by a counter offering protein shakes and smoothies. There’s also a vending machine with protein-rich meals.
Iron Culture is also about fashion. It has its own logo and line of caps and workout clothes.
“People come from their jobs to work out and they want to feel like they are part of something,” said Emily Dilger, a Sparta resident who works as a personal trainer. “They want to make friends. They come to work out, but it’s the community that will keep them coming back.”
Dilger believes in the healing power of working out.
“Exercise is the only free medication,” she said.