Happy 25th Anniversary!
A little over twenty five years ago, Jeff Brown had a vision to bring a large multi-purpose health club to Southeast Minnesota. He partnered with Rick Hexum, Jack Remick and Michael Gostomski to bring a world class health club to Rochester. After several visits to clubs in Minneapolis and multiple marketing surveys, an architectural drawing and model was created. Greg Lappin was hired to be a consultant from the very beginning of the project and became the club's first General Manager.
During construction, the process of pre-selling memberships was happening at the Galleria. People in the community were very hesitant to invest in a club this size without seeing it first. Many people in the community thought it was going to fail and the Parks Director at the time stated that he was convinced that the city would be operating it someday.
When the doors opened, seeing was believing. In an interview with the Post Bulletin, on October 16, 1993, Jack Remick was quoted two days before opening as saying: “Rochester is pretty conservative, but once people get in and kick the tires, they are going to like it.”
The design, where one enters to a large, open expanse, yet experiences a sense of privacy was a concept pioneered by the RAC. An outdoor water park, family locker rooms, and a focus on family activities were new to health clubs. In the same interview, with the Post Bulletin in 1993, Remick also stated: “It’s a first class facility. If we couldn’t do it first class, we were not going to do it at all.”
There have been many changes and investments back into the club since the day we opened. The goal has always been to maintain a world class health club that gives the members a great experience each time they use the club.
It is really incredible to think that we still have 418 Charter Members that joined the club during our first year of operation. Some signed up before we opened and some signed up after they saw the club. Whether you have been here with us for twenty five years or one month, we want to say thank you. We are looking forward to the next twenty five years.
Brent Frueh
General Manager
Rochester Athletic Club
(507) 287-9305 Phone
bfrueh@racmn.com Email