Gayborhood bathhouse Club Body Center is closed until further notice after a fire damaged the establishment last week.
Fire officials received a report of a fire at 12:35 a.m. Aug. 23 and arrived at the scene, 1220 Chancellor St., four minutes later.
Fire Department Executive Chief Richard Davison said the fire was on the first floor of the four-story building and was concentrated in one room. The blaze was brought under control by 12:57 a.m.
No injuries were reported.
Club Body Center, a men’s bathhouse, has been in operation since 1975 and moved from 13th Street into its current location in 1995. The building previously served as Back Street Baths from 1981-86 and then the Chancellor Athletic Club before CBC took over.
Chris Srnicek, who plans to buy the property from its current owners — who are based in California and Florida — said up to 20 people were evacuated.
The cause of the fire is now under investigation by the Fire Marshal’s Office Davison said the length of time for an investigation varies from case to case.
Srnicek said the fire began in and was confined to the laundry room.
“We have gas dryers and since the place is pretty old, we have to empty the lint traps and hadn’t gotten around to cleaning out the exhaust pipe,” he said. “So that may have been it, but we have to wait to hear.”
The laundry room sustained the brunt of the fire; Srnicek said there are extensive scorch marks in the room, and the laundry equipment itself is destroyed.
The changing-room doors will need to be replaced, as firefighters had to kick down each one to ensure no patrons remained in the building. A number of windows, broken to allow the smoke to be released, will also need to be replaced.
An area on the second level, an approximately 100-square-foot space directly about the laundry room, also has scorch marks on the floor.
The basement also has water damage, Srnicek said, from the effort to bring the fire under control.
The total cost for repairs has yet to be determined, but Srnicek said he is working with the business’ insurance company to address finances.
“It’s a pain that this happened but we are fully insured,” he said. “We have business-income loss insurance, property, casualty, liability insurance, all of it.”
The business had recently begun renovations — improvements to the dry sauna and the installation of new televisions — and Srnicek said the fire will likely speed up the rest of that process.
“The whole place was slated to be redone,” he said. “There’s now some smoke damage throughout so the fire will probably accelerate the renovation plans.”
Srnicek estimated that the club will probably be back up and running in about a month. Employees were able to take out the business’ safe, computers and other business materials.
When the club reopens, all members will be given an automatic three-month membership extension.
Srnicek expects to close the purchase of the business by the end of the year.
“Depending on the information from the insurance company, I expect to still be on track,” he said. “This is just a hiccup.”