Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, September 12, 2003 Page: 6 of 68
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Efforts underway to reopen Centrum Sports Club
Small investment group headed by independent personal trainer in
negotiations with owner, but one says raising capital a formidable task
By David Webb
Staff Reporter
A small group of investors formerly associ-
ated with the Centrum Sports Club hope to
reopen the facility soon, according to a person-
al trainer who worked at the upscale health
club before its recent forced closing.
"There's a small group working day and
night trying to reopen it and make it what it
used to be — a very gay-friendly club," said
the trainer, who asked for anonymity because
of concerns about possible retribution from
another facility trainers hope to use in the
interim. "I can't shoot myself in the foot."
The Centrum facility closed last month
after building management locked out the
facility's operator for nonpayment of rent. The
55,000-square-foot club closed overnight,
shocking employees and members of the 15-
year-old club.
The Centrum may reopen as a smaller facil-
ity occupying only one floor, according to
another source close to the investment group.
The former facility included two floors with a
swimming pool, basketball court, running
track and racquetball courts that may be elim-
inated in the new space, the source said.
The source said that the group of investors,
headed by an independent personal trainer,
are meeting with representatives of the build-
ing owner in an attempt to make the deal
work. Building managers are being "extremely
cooperative" in the negotiations, and the club
could reopen as early as next week, he said.
The trainer said that both members and
trainers are anxious to see the facility reopen
because they are discovering that not all health
clubs in the city are as gay-friendly as the
Centrum facility was.
Estimates of the Centrum's percentage of
gay and lesbian members have ranged as high
as 95 percent.
Many former Centrum members and train-
ers are just waiting for the facility to reopen,
rather than approaching a new club, the train-
er said.
"A lot of people are in that situation," said
the trainer, who noted that independent train-
ers are having difficulty finding workout space
because health clubs stand to make more prof-
it on in-house trainers.
The trainer noted that although local Gold's
Gym and Bally Total Fitness facilities wel-
comed former Centrum members, another
club was "very restrictive on how many of the
Centrum trainers and clients they would
bring."
"They did not want to be known as the new
Centrum," the trainer said. "There were inap-
propriate statements made, implying that all
gay people wanted to do is go to the gym and
play in the wet area."
The comments were made to at least three
people, the trainer said.
A former Centrum member said that man-
agement at another health club asked him to
dress in more conservative workout clothes
instead of the tight tank top and shorts he was
accustomed to wearing at the Centrum. He left
the facility and returned later in different
clothes.
"I couldn't believe it," said the member,
who noted that women wore similar attire in
the club without incident.
The member said that the closing of the
Centrum and the search for new workout facil-
ities has dominated conservations in the com-
munity in recent weeks. The member said that
he is anxious for the Centrum facility to
reopen, but that he is concerned because of the
amount of capital the investor-trainers must
raise to restart the club.
Gabriela Milmo's bankruptcy proceedings
could also delay the opening indefinitely, he
said.
Milmo had operated the Centrum facility
since 1991. She attributed her financial prob-
lems to a declining membership roll caused by
the poor economy.
Milmo said that the facility's $47,000 rent
See CENTRUM on PAGE 14
FIREFIGHTERS HONORED
Crossroads Community Church honored local firefighters on Thursday in memo-
ry of those who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade
Center. On the second anniversary of the tragedy, the church served a barbecue
dinner to firefighters at Fire Station No. 10 at the corner of Cedar Springs and
Reagan streets in Oak Lawn. The anniversary seemed like a good opportunity to
show the community's appreciation, said the church's pastor, Rev. Bob Barker,
center, flanked by firefighters Jaime Escobedo, left, and Lenny Longoria.
HRC holds
local forum
on marriage
Initiative designed to promote
'civil marriage,' activists say
By Angela Geralds
Staff Reporter
Local activists are gearing up for the cam-
paign against a proposed constitutional
amendment that would ban gay marriage.
The Human Rights Campaign hopes for
form a local coalition of gay organizations and
their allies to lead a local initiative promoting
dvil marriage. Representatives from some of
those organizations met Wednesday night.
Rebecca Coveil of the Human Rights
Campaign's local steering committee and
national board said gay supporters must share
information and education about marriage
and the legal rights it carries.
Covell said she understands some gays
believe using the language "civil marriage"
will "scare people" into supporting the
amendment.
Some in attendance also thought the fight
should focus on the oppressive nature of the
proposal rather than the promotion of civil
marriage.
The "right wing nuts" are already using the
term marriage, Covell said.
6
If the gay community does not embrace the
term marriage in this debate, "we shy away
from the battle," said Dallas gay activist Steve
Atkinson.
Atkinson explained that gays can spend a
lot of time and money on legal papers to
"approximate" having the same rights as
straight married couples, and even then, gays
cannot receive their partner's social security
benefits, 401K or military pension; file joint tax
returns; share equal rights in raising children;
or receive immigration status because of a
union with a spouse.
See FORUM on PAGE 12
Gay student
assaulted
on DART
platform
Attacking students, possibly from
Dallas Can Academy, yelled anti-
gay slurs during Aug. 29 incident
By David Webb
Staff Reporter
A 17-year-old gay Booker T. Washington
arts magnet school student was assaulted in a
possible hate crime as he waited on the Pearl
Street Station train platform on Aug. 29 about
5 p.m., according to his adult mentor.
Charles Winslow Jr. said that the student's
assailants yelled anti-gay epithets as they
knocked him down and struck him. Several
youths participated in the attack, he said.
"We're trying to get to the bottom of the sit-
uation," Winslow said. "We want to find out
who they are and press charges."
The victim is a senior ballet student who
hopes to attend The Julliard School of Dance
in New York City next year, Winslow said.
"He's a wonderful kid who has been
See ASSAULT on PAGE 14
SEPTEMBER 12, 2003 DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, September 12, 2003, newspaper, September 12, 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616336/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.