World Gym Shuts Doors After Dispute Between Owner, Landlord
Sign in window calls closure ‘temporary’ but at least one member is not so sure.
By Karen Sorensen
http://plainfield.patch.com
World Gym members in Plainfield are learning the hard way their workout facility has “temporarily” closed — when they are greeted by a sign on the front window telling them to use the World Gym in Montgomery.The fitness center shut its doors late last week, the result of a dispute between the building owner and the owner of the Plainfield World Gym franchise, said Esther Colima, a staff member for the Montgomery World Gym.Colima said she did not know the nature of the dispute or if the gym, at 12337 S. Route 59, would reopen. In the meantime, she said, they’re seeing as many as a dozen Plainfield members using their facility daily because of the closure.At least one member said in an e-mail Tuesday that he feared that gym may be closed permanently, and that people who had paid in advance would not be reimbursed.”I know people, me included, prepaid for the summer and others have an automatic debit [for] which we will probably never see a refund,” Kurt Corrigan wrote. “All everyone wants is their money back and to move on, but it does not seem they are going to honor that.”The owner of the gym could not be reached for comment. Building owner Joe Ardovich, whose strip mall includes several other businesses, including Limestone Brewing Company, did not return phone calls.Calls to the World Gym corporate offices in Downers Grove also were not returned.If the Plainfield facility does not reopen, it would follow on the heels of the World Gym in Elgin, which is owned by the same franchise holder and shut its doors in May. Customers there, too, are being told to use their memberships at the Montgomery facility or file a claim for a reimbursement.According to the World Gym Web site, annual memberships cost $29.99 and members pay for each month in advance. For singles, that amount is $23.85, for couples it’s $33.85 and for families it’s $43.85 ($25 additional for every family member beyond the first three).So far, the village has not received any complaints about the fitness center’s closure, said village spokeswoman Amy De Boni.