from the general manager By the time you’re reading this, Phase Two out at the West Clubhouse will be up and running and open for our members to enjoy! We closed for the weekend on Feb. 21 and had a grand opening on Feb. 24 to celebrate the new spaces. After many months of work, we unveiled a brand-new spinning studio, new cardio spaces, functional training and group exercise rooms – just to name a few. Comments we’ve been hearing so far have been incredible, and we hope you’ve been loving the new facilities and upgrades. Remember, we will do as many classes as the members want to take, so please talk to our staff. If there’s something we’re not doing that you’d like us to do, let us know. Also, if you want some guest passes to bring some friends with you to try the new facilities out, get with Paul Helfrich and we’ll make arrangements for you to host them. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be dialing in the classes, times and styles to bring you what you want, when you want it. The schedule is fluid at this point. We’ll also be sending out a survey in a little bit, so you can let us know what you think. We just hired a new nutritionist to join us along with our current nutritionist Dave at West, so we’re starting to look at menus and food offerings and see what we can put into the snack bar that will tie in with the whole wellness aspect of the fitness center. Chef Charles, Emma, Darrin, Brian and the team out there have been working hard on bringing that to life, so keep an eye out. It’ll be nice to get back to operations and out of this construction. With summertime
coming, now’s the perfect time to bring your friends out to see the spectacular new facilities. We’ve been talking about an initiation fee increase, but we decided to push that off for a little bit. However, it will be coming at some point down the road, so now’s a great time to talk to your friends and family and get involved in our great Club before summer kicks off. Hats off to Dean Eggerding, president of the MAC’s Preservation Foundation, for all his work this year and helping us with the Robert J. Trulaske Jr. Family Foundation grant. This started with the leadership of Past President Keith Phoenix, carried on over this year by President Kevin Cantwell and culminated on Feb. 15 with the Preservation Foundation Ball. The ball was a grand party that truly was an extravaganza and allowed us to really show off everything that’s great about the MAC. We had a goal of $525,000 and are very happy to report that we surpassed that. We anticipate this project starting sometime in March and concluding five or six months later. As we develop the schedule, we’ll let you know what’s going on, but there should be very minimal inconvenience since all the work is taking place on the exterior of the building. The work to be done includes restoration of wood windows, metal rails, window lintel and sills, terra cotta, granite and limestone. Other planned work includes masonry cleaning and brick water repellent. The outside of the building has been way down the list of priorities for many years, and I didn’t think I’d ever get to see this project completed in my lifetime at the MAC. But
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because of the Trulaske grant and the generous contributions of our members, we’re going to be able to complete a project I recognized needed to happen the day I walked in the door. It’ll be great to have this building shining again, and all of our members can be very proud of the history and support from folks who’ve worked so hard to bring this from possibility to reality. Now that we have this big fundraising effort and Phase Two behind us, it’s back to the drawing board for what’s next. We’ll be doing a survey as an update to our 2017 questionnaire to get your input on the road ahead and what it looks like for the next three to five years down the road. Every dollar is important to us, and we want to make sure we’re delivering programs, services and facilities that are not only going to keep you happy as our current members, but also attract members who haven’t joined yet. The Planning Committee is back in full gear as we start working on our agenda for next year and all the projects coming up. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, feel free to shoot an email to me or anybody on the Planning Committee. We always enjoy hearing member input and comments on the Club and where money can and should go in the future.
Wally Smith, General Manager Missouri Athletic Club
The ball was a grand party that truly was an extravaganza and allowed us to really show off everything that’s great about the MAC. We had a goal of $525,000 and are very happy to report that we surpassed that.
6 F Cherry Diamond F MAR 2020
