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Updated: January 22, 2023 @ 4:44 am
Gauley Bridge Mayor Bob Scott was joined by others in the community on Monday, Jan. 16 to cut the ribbon on the Gauley Bridge Fitness Center. The center is up and running in the former Gauley Bridge Elementary School building, which now serves as town hall. For more information on memberships or other details, call town hall at 304-632-2505 or 304-632-4141 or visit on social media.
Harper Gordon, 4, of Dixie, was among those on hand on Monday to test out some of the new equipment at the recently-opened Gauley Bridge Fitness Center.
Tammy Prather, left, and Penny Brouillard display some of the new equipment in the Gauley Bridge Fitness Center. The center features a range of weight equipment, as well as cardio equipment, for use by the public via fitness center memberships.
Coat hooks which not too far in the past held the small winter coats of Gauley Bridge Elementary School students now await spare towels and such in the new fitness center at Town Hall.
Gauley Bridge Mayor Bob Scott was joined by others in the community on Monday, Jan. 16 to cut the ribbon on the Gauley Bridge Fitness Center. The center is up and running in the former Gauley Bridge Elementary School building, which now serves as town hall. For more information on memberships or other details, call town hall at 304-632-2505 or 304-632-4141 or visit on social media.
Harper Gordon, 4, of Dixie, was among those on hand on Monday to test out some of the new equipment at the recently-opened Gauley Bridge Fitness Center.
Tammy Prather, left, and Penny Brouillard display some of the new equipment in the Gauley Bridge Fitness Center. The center features a range of weight equipment, as well as cardio equipment, for use by the public via fitness center memberships.
Coat hooks which not too far in the past held the small winter coats of Gauley Bridge Elementary School students now await spare towels and such in the new fitness center at Town Hall.
GAULEY BRIDGE — Strides have been made as the town continues to transform the former Gauley Bridge Elementary School into town hall.
The latest move was the ribbon cutting earlier this week for the Gauley Bridge Fitness Center, which is located in the area of some of the classrooms in the former school, which was closed at the end of the 2021-22 school year and transferred over to the town by the Fayette County Board of Education.
Gauley Bridge Mayor Bob Scott was joined by other town representatives and members of the general public on Jan. 16 to officially christen the center.
According to Scott and Penny Brouillard, town recorder/treasurer, about $20,000 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) funding was utilized to secure numerous pieces of brand new weightlifting and cardio equipment from Dick’s Sporting Goods for use by the community and surrounding area.
“We have free weights, dumbbells, a squat leg press machine, a multi machine, weightlifting racks, 900 pounds worth of free weights right now,” Brouillard said last week. “As for the cardio side, we have four state-of-the-art treadmills, we have a Nordic Track rowing machine, we have two recumbent bicycles, an upright bicycle and an elliptical.”
“There’s quite a selection in there right now,” Scott said Monday. The town is also fielding recommendations from residents for some other equipment they might like to see in the center, Scott said.
“(Town employees) and council talked about something we could do, not just for Gauley Bridge but the surrounding community, and this was one of the best options we came up with,” said the mayor. The aim was “to get fitness going and give people something to do year-round, not just in the summer, not just in the winter, but year-round.”
The fitness center project involved separating former classrooms into a more open segment.
Those who register as members will have their own access code and can use the center anytime. “You have 24-7 access to come in the building and use the building,” Brouillard said. There are bathrooms, and several surveillance cameras are in place, she noted.
Membership rates are $30 per month for individuals. Other monthly rates include: $50 for two people/couple; $20 per person for a family of three or more; and daily rate of $5 per day.
There is also a special one-year sign-up fee of $275 for a single membership. Registration and payment must occur by Jan. 20.
Town hall hours are from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for anyone who wants to register. Questions can be directed to 1-304-632-2505 or 1-304-632-4141.
• • •
The first day in the new town hall after years operating in a historic, former railroad depot downtown was the first day the town and surrounding communities began to recover from severe flooding in mid-August 2022. “Of course, we did get hit with the flood right out of the gate,” Scott said. The town is still dealing with some of the lingering issues from that, he noted.
“Our first day here was dealing with the flood; in fact, the gym flooded,” Brouillard added.
Residents are getting accustomed to the new location, and more activities are starting to trickle in, Scott said.
“Pretty much everybody’s adjusted,” the mayor said. “There’s still a few people not used to it being up here yet.
“We have a lot more room here. We can have a lot more stuff here.”
The extra space came in handy, for example, as the town and its residents dealt with the flood aftermath.
Scott and Brouillard both said discussions are ongoing with an individual who is considering initiating a day care center onsite. Also, the gymnasium is being rented for activities such as basketball and pickleball. Some of those activities previously occurred in the former Gauley Bridge High School building across the street that functioned as a community center in the past. That building — still owned by the town — is in disrepair and not being used.
“We’re trying to not only use it (the newer building) for Gauley Bridge but use it for the whole community around us,” said Scott.
Other possibilities exist, too. “If anybody’s interested, we’ve still got space,” he said. “We’ll rent rooms out (perhaps in a small business incubator-type situation).”
Town council meets two Tuesdays a month in the new town hall, and the police department is onsite.
Interest has been expressed by individuals wanting to lease the former town hall, Scott said.
Email: skeenan@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gb_scribe
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