New Fitness Facility on Horizon

Doug Steinly’s father coached Hatters football for 35 years and his brother, Dennis, coaches Hatboro-Horsham basketball and teaches at the high school. So, when it came time to open a fitness center, it only seemed natural that Steinly would look to the area he considers himself an “alumni” of: Horsham.

On April 1, Steinly will open the 46,000-square-foot Horsham Athletic Center at 400 Horsham Road (the former site of a Chrysler Corporation call center). Construction on the $4.5 million project began in November and is expected to wrap up late this month, Steinly said.

The fitness facility will be a sister site to the 8,000-member - or the NAC to locals who frequent the 110,000-square-foot facility - meaning members could use either club, Steinly said.

 “Our goal is to be viewed as a community center as opposed to a gym,” Steinly said, adding that meeting space will be available in the building, which will also feature a full-service café, four group exercise studios, interactive childcare offerings and, of course, gym equipment. Steinly said the HAC will have more than 65 pieces of cardio machines, as well as strength training equipment.

Initially, Steinly said his club would focus on adult offerings. “As we grow and get established,” Steinly said his intent is to duplicate the kids’ offerings available at the NAC. The structure the Horsham club is housed in offers room to expand either upward to a second floor, or within the building itself.

Steinly got his start at the NAC in 1991 as a fitness trainer. After he “escalated up through the ranks,” Steinly said he managed the NAC for a while before moving on to NAC sister site Health Quest in Flemington, N.J.

Eve Krieger, a controller at the NAC and HAC, said the NAC has looked at different locations throughout the years. A study identified that “income could tolerate a new club,” she said. 

However, Krieger said you have to “go with your gut feeling” when deciding where and when to open a new facility.

“You just go in and keep your fingers crossed,” Krieger said. “If it doesn’t work, it’s certainly through no fault of the personnel that we’ve put up there. If anybody can make it happen absolutely he can. Only time is going to tell.”