Canton Club – Baltimore Magazine

Canton Club Closing After 12 Years in the Fitness Business

Jess Mayhugh — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:54:34 +0000

Fitness trends come and go, but it’s not often an institutional gym closes its doors. This past Sunday, Canton Club Health & Fitness informed members that it will be closing after 12 years. The gym’s last day will be December 15.

“The last 12 years have been an unexpected business adventure for us,” the gym’s co-owners Amy and Marty Passen said in the email. “Unfortunately, the business is no longer financially viable due to evolving market conditions.”

The 10,000-square-foot fitness facility, located along the waterfront near Bo Brooks Crab House, attracted members with its smaller size and harbor views. The gym also spearheaded innovative classes like aerial yoga, rock-climbing Fitwall, and Surfset over the years. Canton Club also received numerous accolades from this magazine, including being named a “Top Gym” in 2012.

But with boutique studios opening all over the city and customizable fitness plans, like ClassPass, arriving in Baltimore, the competition in the industry is ever-growing.

Not surprisingly, many members have taken to social media to express sadness over the news, saying “Canton Club was in a perfect location” and “the view was spectacular. Nothing like doing treadmill or elliptical looking at the harbor. I am heartbroken.”

“I have been very touched by the outpouring of gratitude and sadness that people have expressed through social media,” Amy says. “The hardest thing is putting my amazing team members out of work. It’s these people that have created a Cheers-like atmosphere that has made Canton Club so amazing all of these years.”

Amy continued to say that it’s her primary goal to help all of the fitness instructors and staff find new job opportunities. Canton Club’s fitness director Patrick Furlow has already announced plans to open his own facility, XPF Studio, in Fells Point in 2016.

“I have seen so many people’s lives change,” says personal trainer Angie Smith, who has been an instructor at Canton Club for seven years. “I’ve seen people lose over 100 pounds, train for half-marathons when they never ran a mile before, get married, and have kids and grandkids. I have made so many friends that they are like family to me.”

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Breath of Fresh Air

Jess Mayhugh — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 08:30:00 +0000

Walk past the Washington Monument on a Saturday morning and you’ll see a group practicing yoga on the grass of East Mt. Vernon Place. The weekly class is one in a selection of free group fitness activities, like swing dance and African line dancing, sponsored by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy to encourage fitness and show off the neighborhood.

While group fitness classes at gyms can be expensive and intimidating, free group activities tend to appeal to a wide range of fitness levels.

“The instructors are very attuned to tailoring the class to meet the participants’ needs,” says Mount Vernon Place Conservancy’s administrator Cathy Rosenbaum. “The yoga instructor also accommodates those with physical limitations and provides alternate poses to meet their needs.”

Other neighborhoods are catching onto the free summer activity trend. With the annual Waterfront Wellness Series, Inner Harbor’s Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore provides free group classes taught by well-known Baltimore studios (think Charm City Yoga, MAC, and Canton Club) four days a week.

“Waterfront Wellness began in 2012 as an initiative to make fitness accessible to everyone, especially those who may not be able to afford an expensive gym membership,” says Laurie Schwartz, president of Waterfront Partnership.

Want to burn calories while enjoying the fresh air even during the winter months? November Project (NP)—a movement that started in Boston and now operates in various cities across the US—meets year-round for early-morning workouts in Federal Hill and Patterson Park.

“I am not a gym person. I enjoy working out outdoors,” says Sam Gutner, a nurse and member of NP. “We want people to take the headphones out, put the phones down, and come enjoy their city together,” says Nick Rodricks, an NP group leader. “We believe that if people want to step up, make a change, and try something fun, they should never be impeded by the cost or accessibility.”

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Pedaling, Planning, Parties, Pancakes & Parks: 10 Upcoming Winter Bike Events

Ron Cassie — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 13:30:00 +0000

Don’t let the colder temps hold you back, the new year’s bicycling
season has begun with a full slate of upcoming rides, symposiums,
planning forums, bike parties, and swap meets.

Here’s a short list
of 10 upcoming events in the next couple of weeks. Maybe they’ll serve
as motivation to get back in the saddle now that the days are getting
longer, too. The Bikemore calendar, Baltimore Bicycle Club website, and Biking in B’more Meetup page are good ongoing resources, especially for local group rides.

Jan. 18: Jones Falls Trail Family Bike Party: Meets at 9:30 a.m. at Baltimore Bicycle Works on Falls Road.

Jan. 20: Crank Mavens Ladies’ Night Ride: All women ride through Baltimore, starts at 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 22: Winter Bike Sweats:
The antidote for spin class boredom. Ongoing Wednesday night 7:30 p.m.
rides, either sprints around Lake Montebello or climbs up Roland Park
hill.

Jan. 31: Baltimore Bike Party:
Ongoing last Friday of every month recreational urban trek and
after-party. This month’s theme: Hipsters vs. Lumberjacks. Meets at 7
p.m. at St. Mary’s Park.

Feb. 2: Pancake Ride:
First Sundays through April, leaving from South Carroll High School for
26 or 42 mile ride—with flapjack breakfast stop along the way.

Feb. 3 Six-Week Bike Maintenance Class:
Baltimore Bicycle Works mechanics teach the ins and outs of maintenance
and repair on Monday nights at 6 p.m. (There is a fee for the classes.)

Feb. 4: Downtown Baltimore Bicycle Network Public Meeting: 5 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt Free Library to discuss plans for the downtown bicycle network.

Feb. 7 & 8: Canton Club’s 24-Hour Pedal for Patterson Park: 6th Annual indoor cycle-thon to benefit Patterson Park.

Feb. 9: 17^th Annual Bicycle Stop, Swap, and Save: Carroll County Agricultural Center.

Feb. 11: The 17^th Annual Maryland Bicycle Symposium: Presented by Bike Maryland at the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis.

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