New Hood River Athletic Club entrance complete, more renovations coming

The new ownership group consists of Sherwood, Burman, Director of Tennis Craig Pearce and Coral Worth — who has been with the HRAC for 34 years. Once they assembled their ownership team, discussions began on which updates and renovations should come first at the HRAC. As contractors began to remove ceiling tiles and take a closer look, they uncovered some serious problems caused by the pool, sauna and hot tub.

The pool room had always been kept very hot and humid, which created moisture that drifted from the pool area to the ceiling space above the offices and main entrance. This caused damage to the pipes and ventilation system in the ceiling not just in the pool room, but throughout the entire main entrance area.

“Once we started looking at all that, they (the contractors) started removing the tiles and looking and it just got worse and worse. All the insulation was sopping wet. There was moisture from the pool and condensing on the pipes and dripping on insulation all the way down,” said Burman.

They encountered other problems in the courtyard and weightlifting area. A clogged drain in the courtyard caused major flooding and water found its way inside the indoor weight room.

The team began cleaning up the ceiling mess and figured while they are at it to completely renovate the women’s locker room, replace the ventilation and security systems, build a new main entrance, add a restaurant and bar, renovate the new Peak Performance Area, revamp the cycling studio, clean up the outdoor area and renovate the children’s nursery. Sounds easy enough, right?

“Rather than just doing patch up jobs and replace the old stuff, we thought, ‘Let’s just renovate these other things also,’” said Sherwood.

With to-do list piling up, the group started with permitting — which Burman says was half the battle.

“All that stuff took months to get the right permitting,” said Burman.

And with no blueprints on-site and none in the archives, they had to hire an architect to come in and draw the entire building over again. Architects and designers stated that the whole facility must be mapped to avoid making one wrong move and causing further damage.

After roughly four months of getting the correct permits and permissions, designers and contractors finally got to work. The HRAC stayed open to visitors the entire time and Sherwood has one message for those who hung around: Thank you.

“You are heroes to us,” said Sherwood. “I mean people were stepping over and around construction while still trying to work out.”

Plans included building a kitchen, seating area and bar for gym members that is called Opus 3. The kitchen is led by Head Chef Julius Baliola, who previously worked at Huber’s in downtown Portland. Huber’s is known for their upscale dining, delicious turkey dinners, and the title of Portland’s oldest restaurant — they were established in 1879.

Baliola started at Huber’s as a line cook and worked his way up to one of the top chefs in their kitchen. He worked at Huber’s for 20 years until COVID arrived and his family moved to The Dalles. He and his wife found work where they could before he was hired to lead the kitchen at Opus 3.

“It’s different. When you go from working with a crew of almost 20 people to now just yourself and it can be pretty challenging at times,” said Baliola. “But I’ve been doing this for a couple months now, so I am starting to figure things out.”

For right now, Opus 3 is only serving dinner Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., although, snacks are available Monday through Friday. Meals will rotate on a weekly basis, said Baliola, and he will take feedback from members and adjust his menu accordingly. Baliola joins the HRAC team while other employees are happy with the changes. HRAC personal trainer Kim Robinson is lauded by Sherwood and Burman as the best of the best when it comes to gym members looking for a little motivation.

“She has helped a lot of people in the community overcome certain hurdles to working out,” said Sherwood. Robinson has helped members on both sides of the motivation spectrum. She has trained athletes get past severe injuries and help gym members find success they didn’t even think they could achieve. Other personal trainers Bea Hager and Laura Nichols have some of the highest national certifications in training and nutrition. Hager is also a tennis instructor.

Burman and Sherwood are also looking at areas where the tennis program can be even better. They credit co-owner Pearce as one of the foundations in the tennis program. During the past summers the HRAC and Parks and Recreation District partnered to put on youth tennis camps. The turnout was so great, parents wanted a place where their kids could continue to learn and play tennis. The HRAC offers training programs for a variety of age group.

“Without Craig there would be no tennis program. He is essential,” said Burman. “My fear was that some competitor will hire him away and our tennis program would follow.”

So, Burman offered to let him in on a share in ownership.

As for what’s next, Burman and Sherwood are planning to fill in the pool and redo the room to accommodate large fitness classes or private events. Burman confirmed the HRAC has submitted permits and designs to the city for review and expects to receive the green light within a couple weeks. Once approved the spaced will be remodeled, along with the men’s locker room.