Several visitors begin taking advantage of their newly improved weight room immediately after Phillip’s Halls grand re-opening here, Jan. 4. Although the weight room was not completely changed, the center podium that used to be there was taken out, allowing space for more attendees to pump iron.

Photo by Cpl. Matthew Brown

Fitness Center re-opens after year of closure

8 Jan 2010 | Cpl. Matthew Brown Marine Corps Training and Education Command

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif -- After more than a year of extensive remodeling, Brig. Gen. Ronald L. Bailey, commanding general of Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and the Western Recruiting Region, cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the newly renovated Fitness Center here, also known as Phillip’s Hall, Jan. 4.

Following the ribbon cutting, attendees were invited inside the building for a tour of the facility and were offered free healthy snacks and received free workout towels, T-shirts, water bottles and other workout gear.

Some attendees went straight to the weight room after previewing the rest of the building.

“The first thing I noticed was how nice the facility was, especially for being a military building,” said Jesse S. Lloyd, a boatswain’s mate for Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team San Diego. “There is also just a lot of room to work out and the equipment is new. It’s nice.”

The extensive upgrades came after approximately a year of work by Allen Engineering, the company contracted to work on the remodeling.

“The whole building was completely gutted except for the weight room, though it was still improved,” Giovanna Thiesen, Fitness Center manager, said. “We wanted to preserve the building’s historic nature while bringing the outdated design of Phillip’s Hall to current standards.”

The building was constructed in 1922 and didn’t become a gym until 1951.Thiesen says the building is now more efficient with the way it uses its space.

“The second floor used to be almost completely filled with the female locker room and a lot of office space,” Thiesen said. “Now it houses several additional exercise spaces like a spin class room and the female locker room has been moved next to the males’ on the first floor.”

Now that the building is completed, many plan to use its space for personal growth and development.

“This will help the physical aspect of my life,” Brig. Gen. Ronald L. Bailey said after being one of the first to check out the building. “Congratulations to the team for a job well done.”