Letter to the editor: The loss of Beacon’s gym will be felt generationally

Editor,

In retrospect, I should have known what was to come when they closed the children’s playroom area. That room was one of the things my husband and I enjoyed best about the gym. It enabled us to bring our young children with us so we could exercise while they enjoyed socializing in a safe and friendly environment. In short, we loved how family friendly and community focused the former Three Rivers Health Trac was. Then came the Beacon Health’s purchase of the Three Rivers Hospital and everything associated with it. 

Suddenly the children’s play area was not a money maker, and there “just aren’t young families using it” so it was closed and eventually turned into a pilates room that members had to pay extra to use. This meant my husband and I could not go together but had to plan around being able to take turns since there was nowhere for our children. Suddenly children were no longer welcome in the pool area so we could no longer teach our children how to safely swim. 

Then, presumably due to the tornado, the basketball area was closed to weight equipment that could be moved onto the area, supposedly temporarily, so the weight room could become an exercise class area, and the former exercise class area could become a place for physical therapy. All of this of course makes sense until suddenly Beacon announced the change was permanent, so no more tennis, basketball, pickleball, and no more designated private weight area, and then Beacon suddenly announced on September 1^st that the entire gym would be closed effectively September 30^th. 

What I have always loved about that gym was its family friendly and community centric atmosphere and environment. Since the Beacon acquisition of the gym I have watched as sadly over the years Beacon mandated policies and changes that did away with just that. Three Rivers Health Trac was a place that recognized that human health is not just about having a physically fit body. It recognized that true health is wholistic. A healthy human being is healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. Health Trac sought to be a place where everyone from families with small children to octogenarians could gather safely and not just exercise but also socialize, interact on an intergenerational basis, and find not just a healthier body but release from stress, anxiety, fear, and loneliness. 

The staff of the former Three Rivers Health Trac worked hard over the years, despite policy changes from Beacon, to maintain the gym as best they could as a place of holistic health where everyone from single parents with kids, to families, to seniors could gather. I cannot commend them enough for their dedication, passion, and their goal of helping every person who came into that gym be healthy in the whole sense. Unfortunately, it seems Beacon does not truly care about things like family, community, or the passions and dedication of their employees. Instead, like so many major health corporations’ dollars have replaced dignity, coins have replaced compassion, and the only health they seem to be concerned about is that of their shareholders wallets. 

Why is Beacon closing after over 30 years of the gym being in operation in the TR community? Well…they state in their official email (which is not signed but sent via a nameless person or perhaps more likely these days AI) on the subject that it’s due to dwindling membership. Perhaps Beacon should not have worked so hard to alienate the memberships of families who used the gym, the teenagers and others who used the basketball court, and perhaps they could have really advertised what used to be their unique strength: a gym for all and seeks to help people grow healthy in mind, emotions, and body. 

My husband and I will probably look for another gym in the area but nothing will replace the friends and valuable relationships we have had at that gym over the years. I will deeply miss the wonderful people I have gotten to know who celebrated my birthday, appropriately challenged and pushed me to be more than I thought I could, and who put up with my corny jokes. Yet even though my husband and I can find a new gym one wonders what about those who don’t have that so easily? What about the seniors who can’t simply drive to another Beacon location like Granger or Elkhart as Beacon so “helpfully” suggests. What about those for whom this was not just a gym to lift weights at, but a safe place to be with friends and find health in stress & anxiety relief? Community is not so easily replicated as are weight machines. What about the staff? Sure they can interview other Beacon locations but let’s face it there are only so many positions available and not everyone has the privilege of being able to drive to new locations. 

I am reminded in this situation of one of Jesus teachings. During his famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus talks about many things from prayer, to giving, to fasting. He also talks about money and possessions. Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Considering Jesus makes it clear that the fulfillment of holiness, or the Law of God, is in loving God with everyone you are and your neighbor likewise what Jesus really gets at is this: it is impossible for a person to love God and neighbor equally as much as they love money. It’s a shame that Beacon, and frankly many health corporations like them, have chosen not to love their neighbors in the communities they are located in, but instead have chosen instead to love money which despite Beacon Health’s name does not lead either to being a light in the lives of their neighbors or true health.

Reverend Nicole Smith

Three Rivers

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Any views or opinions expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Watershed Voice staff or its board of directors.