Dale Pullin stands in front of the HealingStrong banner Thursday evening at Thorbeckes FitLife Center in Centralia.
Andrew Pullin signs his National Letter of Intent to play baseball at the University of Oregon at the Centralia High School library flanked by his mother, Kathy, and father, Dale, in this 2012 file photo.
Members of the Poseidon Swim Club practice in the pool at Thorbeckes FitLife Center in Centralia in 2007.
Pacific Sports Spa Owner Matt Noren and Dale and Kathy Pullin pose in front of Pacific Sports Spa inside of Thorbeckes FitLife Center in Chehalis on Wednesday.
Matt Noren, owner of Pacific Sports Spa, looks on as Andrew Pullin, a minor league baseball player and Centralia High School graduate, stands inside a cryotherapy chamber on Thursday, Jan. 26 in Chehalis. Noren is the new owner of Thorbeckes, which was owned for 35 years by Andrew Pullin's father, Dale Pullin.
Al Canaday uses a cycling machine at Thorbeckes FitLife Center in Centralia in this 2016 file photo.
Katy Murray performs push jerks at the Thorbeckes CrossFit gym in Centralia in March 2016.
Pacific Sports Spa Owner Matt Noren (left) shakes hands with Dale and Kathy Pullin at Thorbeckes Fitlife Center in Chehalis on Wednesday.
Pacific Sports Spa Owner Matt Noren (left) shakes hands with Dale and Kathy Pullin at Thorbeckes Fitlife Center in Chehalis on Wednesday.
Lewis County’s biggest fitness center is changing hands, but its members aren’t likely to notice a difference.
Not in the near future, anyway.
Matt and Andrea Noren, owners of Pacific Sports Spa LCC, have purchased Thorbeckes FitLife Center from owner and founder Dale Pullin.
Pullin, who founded the gym in 1982, notified his staff on Tuesday, and the Norens’ first official day of ownership was Wednesday.
“I hope the employees will understand that I just want to make it better,” Noren said Tuesday night, a day before he was scheduled to spend the day meeting with the gym’s 40-odd employees. “A better place to work, to live, to work out.”
Noren opened Pacific Sports Spa in November, setting up shop in a suite in the Chehalis Thorbeckes FitLife Center. The spa, geared toward local athletes, helps its clients prepare for and recover from training. He’s also operated his own medical staffing company for the last seven years.
His initial idea was to buy land and build a spa near Thorbeckes in Chehalis. A note in his business plan actually pointed out that, in the next decade, he would like to be able to at least consider purchasing Thorbeckes.
Instead of building, though, he noticed space for rent at Thorbeckes and met Pullin. The two became friends, and about a year ago Pullin invited Noren to lunch and presented the idea.
“When he approached me, it was like, ‘Wow.’ Sooner than anticipated,” Noren said. “It was an opportunity — basically my dream.”
Pullin founded Thorbeckes 35 years ago in an 800-square-foot storefront on Main Street between Pearl Street and Tower Avenue. He opened the doors in April of 1982 and sold 125 memberships that month, with customers using weightlifting equipment the Centralia High School graduate and prep power-lifting champion had helped weld together himself.
He expended his operation about a year later, adding Nautilus exercise equipment, and after about two years relocated to a spot on South Tower Avenue.
The current Centralia location at Fort Borst Park was opened in 1995 and later expanded to include the indoor pool. The Chehalis Thorbeckes FitLife Center opened in 2003, and Thorbeckes Express Center in Rochester opened in 2004.
The move will allow Pullin and his wife, Kathy, to retire; the couple’s two sons, Andrew and Aaron, are playing minor league baseball in the Phillies’ organization and running track at Eastern Washington University, respectively.
Pullin was diagnosed with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (a non-Hodgkin cancer of the blood) about a year ago.
“He wants to live his life and focus on his health,” Noren said, adding that the Pullins will certainly be around to help with the transition.
Part of the appeal was simply the size, which is one roadblock many fitness centers hit at some point.
“That’s not really an issue with Thorbeckes,” he said. “In Centralia and Chehalis there’s so much space.”
Thorbeckes, Noren pointed out, is more than a simple weight room and treadmills. The organization’s Twin Cities sites off yoga classes, swimming, racquetball, basketball courts, Crossfit, rock climbing and a variety of sport-specific training options.
“The cool part about Thorbeckes is (Pullin’s) got such a good team of people that are there, already, that are able to run the business,” he said. “He’s been able to guide projects and be the leader. I’m going to be around, but I’m not going to come in and make a bunch of huge, sweeping changes.”
The basic plan is basic upgrades to the facilities — remodelling locker rooms, replacing floors and adding new TVs, Noren said, and eventually update the lobby areas to have more of a coffee-shop feel, suitable for business meetings or a bit of relaxation after a workout.
The long-term goal, though, is to develop Thorbeckes into a world-class fitness center, both for locals and college and pro athletes.
“Lewis County’s just going to continue getting bigger, more populated,” he said. “Hopefully, between the (NW) Sports Hub, the PAC, and Borst (Park), and all those different athletic facilities that are already here, I think we can add an additional venue for athletes to come down to, and be a popular thing.”
Noren, a 2001 Willapa Valley High School graduate, and his wife, Andrea, live in Chehalis. The couple have a 6-year-old son, a 3-year-old daughter and a 6-month-old son. His Pacific Sports Spa signed a lease in Tumwater a few weeks ago, and the second location should be open in a few weeks.
