Gym dream

This afternoon, a dream is coming true for a Dunkirk couple. 

Sculpt Fitness, a new 24-hour gym, will have its grand opening and open house from noon to 3 p.m. today at 120 E. Commerce St., Dunkirk. The event will be catered by The Glass Capital Café and will have vendors from The Vitamin Shoppe and 5 Star Nutrition, along with several giveaways. 

The fitness center is the culmination of four months of work and several years of hoping for Darrin and Eleathia Harding. They had planned to open a gym within the next few years, but moved their timeline up when they had the chance to buy their new building. 

“We’ve had a dream for probably at least five years,” Eleathia said. “We came upon an opportunity that if we passed it up, we were stupid and we would never have this opportunity again, so we decided to jump on it.”

After closing on the location in November, the couple got to work remodeling the interior and scouring the internet for deals on equipment. Now, the space has a bright coat of paint, motivational sayings printed on the walls and music streaming through speakers. And, of course, it’s lined with weights, treadmills, stationary bicycles and strength-training machines. 

“We know what we like and know what everybody needs,” Darrin said of their equipment selection. “We have a full middle row of that stuff that hits every single body part.” 

Weightlifting and working out have been the Hardings’ shared passion for almost nine years now, and is a large part of their lifestyle. Eleathia competes in figure competitions and Darrin is certified as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. 

“We just fell in love with it. We go to work and then we lift and that’s about all we do, really,” Darrin said. 

But years of driving to gyms in other towns grew tiresome. Plus, the hours didn’t always fit their needs. The gym they worked out at in Muncie closed early on weekend nights, the only time that Eleathia and Darrin’s workout schedules aligned. 

“That’s what we do on a Friday night for fun,” Eleathia said. “We go to the gym and actually hang out and workout together.” 

That’s why Sculpt Fitness is located in their hometown of Dunkirk and will be open 24 hours every day. Parents can come after their kids go to sleep, for instance, and factory workers whenever their shift finishes. Each member is issued a key fob that unlocks the gym’s front door. 

“It will be perfect for the people at the glass factory working swing shift all the time, so they can get in here any time of the day they want,” Darrin said. 

There will be additional services at Sculpt Fitness aside from just being a place to workout. The couple hopes to have fitness and nutrition classes available in the coming months. 

A month’s membership for one person costs $35, and a yearly contract is $350. Households can join at a reduced price, and there are discounts for seniors and teens. Everyone who signs up for a year-long membership will get a personalized training program. 

“So if they’ve never lifted, they don’t know what they’re doing, we give them a basic program,” Darrin said. “I walk them through each machine, show them proper form and just how to operate the machine.” 

Darrin will be at the gym from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day next week for those who want to check it out or sign up for a membership. After that, there will be a schedule of staffed hours Mondays through Saturdays.

Now that their dream is realized, the couple is looking forward to working together and helping area residents achieve their health goals. 

“We always love to help people find their healthiness,” Eleathia said. “We love to help people learn to love it.”