The ramifications of the suspicious Midvale Shopping Centre fire of Saturday night continue to grow.
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The operators of Anytime Fitness have revealed the tangible and psychological blows they have experienced.
To the uninitiated, it would appear the gym has been bombed. Shattered glass covers exercise gear; areas are blackened. Extraordinarily, a lone vending machine stands untouched.
Senior manager of Anytime Fitness' Mount Clear and Redan gyms Clancy Meaney remains shaken.
"We feel in shock," Ms Meaney said.
"Nothing like this has happened at either of our clubs."
The physical toll of the fire is immense with a full assessment to be completed. Damaged apparatus includes five treadmills; five cross trainers; seven bikes, including recumbent and upright bikes; two rowing machines; and weights machines.
"It's a lot worse than what we thought," Ms Meaney said.
"There's a big hole in our wall. The roof is shattered. All of the cardio equipment, which is the most expensive - treadmills are $10,000 each - is a write-off.
"All the carpet is stuffed. The rubber matting has smoke residue. There's smoke damage to all of the strength equipment. The metal is corroding. However, the smoke has travelled through the rest of the gym where we thought there would be no issue. There's every chance all the equipment is going to be a complete write-off."
In addition, there is a significant emotional burden being carried.
"Over the last couple of years, gyms were one of the hardest-hit industries," Ms Meaney said.
"We were shut for the whole duration of lockdown; we didn't even get those moments to be open in some capacity. Unfortunately, the Mount Clear club took quite a big hit. Federation University is out this way and the international students weren't coming in and also, with IBM, everyone was working from home."
The timing could not have been worse, according to Ms Meaney.
"January is the busiest month. You've got your 'new year's resolutioners'. We were so looking forward to helping everyone in the community and getting the community active, happy, and healthy. Now, this has happened, it feels like one thing after another. We're all feeling defeated, disappointed, and flat."
Ms Meaney is conscious others will be suffering too.
"This isn't just about us," Ms Meaney said.
"It's about the struggle of all of the people who love that gym. It's their comfort zone; it's good for people's mental health. It's so important for people to be getting active. That has been taken away from people."
However, Ms Meaney is aware circumstances could be worse.
"Thank God, we have two gyms in Ballarat," she said.
"The Mount Clear members can train over at the Redan club. Nobody's out of work. The members will still have familiar faces."
There is an obvious resilience and promises of things to come.
"We are committed to coming back, bigger and better than ever," Ms Meaney said.
"We want to give the whole area the best gym we possibly can."
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