TR PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER Carmen Erhardt is pictured Wednesday, July 31, in her new gym, The Body Shop Gym & Spa, which was still under construction. The 24-hour fitness center — Traer’s only gym — is scheduled to open to the public Sept. 1, but recently got a sneak peek as part of the annual Winding Stairs Festival. The shop is located at 606 Third St., just east of the BP gas station, in the former Boldt Auction Company building.
TRAER — Carmen Erhardt is ready to cross the finish line.
As part of the Traer Winding Stairs Festival, Erhardt recently gave a sneak peek at her new 24-hour fitness center, The Body Shop Gym & Spa, located about a block south of downtown. And while she was excited to finally give the public a chance to see what’s been happening at the former Boldt Auction Company building since construction began last winter, she’s practically counting the minutes until she can officially open the doors.
“Phase 1 is just the opening,” Erhardt said on Wednesday, July 31, as she gave the newspaper a sneak peek of the space ahead of the open house on August 8. “We started in February of this year. I wanted to be finished about five months ago. But now I can see the end.”
When Erhardt and her husband, James, bought the building at 606 Third St. last year, they had no plans to open a gym there. Since Erhardt is an athlete herself, she had hoped the space might be of interest to someone who wanted to offer a fitness center to the community.
“I have a degree in athletic training and fitness management. I’ve been an athlete all my life, but I didn’t plan on setting up a gym here. I was thinking about storage space or rent,” she said.
But when her attempts to lease the space to another gym developer failed, Erhardt decided to simply build the business herself.
“My thought was, I’m going to bring a big city gym to a small community,” she said.
She definitely has the background to make it happen. After graduating from Independence High School, Erhardt attended Upper Iowa University, where she played basketball for the Peacocks. After college, she managed gyms in the Cedar Rapids area for several years before, as she says, she burned out.
Today, in addition to being a wife and mother, she owns Pillar Insurance in downtown Traer. Although her day job no longer involves helping people achieve their fitness goals, Erhardt said health and wellness have remained her top priority over the years.
“In 2021, I had an accident with a side-by-side vehicle and broke my back,” Erhardt said. “One of my biggest fears is losing strength and mobility. … That was one of the main reasons I started again.”
Before the first preview on August 8, all of the gym’s equipment was to be delivered, including cardio machines, bikes, ellipticals, weight training equipment, free weights, mirrors and a whole wall of televisions. During the newspaper’s tour, Erhardt stressed that everything would be new – no second-hand equipment would be used.
The Body Shop Gym & Spa’s fitness center, which will be accessible 24/7 via an app with a keychain, will eventually offer classes, including some specifically geared toward children and seniors.
The company will also sell a range of nutritional supplements.
The goal is to open the gym on the east side of the complex to the public on September 1, while construction continues on the rest of the massive building – including the space that most recently housed Nancy Boldt’s hair salon.
“The entire salon will remain. I’m hiring another (stylist). I’m trying to hire a nail technician,” Erhardt said.
For this purpose, the kitchen of the former building will be converted into treatment rooms as part of the company’s planned spa offering.
“We’ll have estheticians in the two treatment rooms. I’m trying to hire a massage therapist here. I’m thinking of maybe adding a sauna (and) a cold bath,” she said. “This building will be a healthy, holistic place.”
But now Erhardt is concentrating on completing the fitness room, which had to be completely gutted. The smooth, white steel walls inside are brand new, as is the floor.
She’s also working on setting up her website for those interested in purchasing a membership. In the meantime, you can follow the company’s Facebook page for updates. Standing in the cavernous, white industrial building last week, Erhardt proudly described all the different spaces that would soon come to life as part of the gym.
“I knew I could do this,” she once said. “I believe this is something that can attract young families to our community. People are ready.”
