Business & Tech

UPDATED: Northfield Athletic Club to Close after Tuesday

Open since 1980, the club will close at the end of the day Tuesday.

UPDATED: 11 p.m.

The will close at the end of the day Tuesday, a club official told Patch.

Jeff Smiens, who owns the club with his wife, Therese, said in an email to Patch on Tuesday that Kyle Snesrud, who owns the building, was not able to secure a loan with his bank to make the necessary improvements to the club, which totalled in excess of $80,000. 

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"These were not minor repairs but necessary repairs," Smiens wrote. "My wife and I were unwilling to invest any more money in a facility we did not own."

According to Rice County property records, the estimated market value of the building and property at 1000 Hwy. 3 S. is $531,000, which it has been for the past five years. Also, according to county records, a permit was filed in 2010 for work on the roof.

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The will close at the end of the day Tuesday, a club official told Patch.

Griff Wigley of Locally Grown Northfield, a longtime racquetball player at the club, wrote Tuesday morning that he may have played his last game at the club.

"It’s a sad day for area racquetball players, as Northfield has more racquetball players per capita than any other town in the state," Wigley wrote.

Therese and Jeff Smiens have owned the club since January 2010, leasing the facility from former owners Kyle and Dale Snesrud, who passed away last year from cancer.

The Northfield Athletic Club, which opened in 1980, received nationwide attention earlier this year when a Faribault teenager was featured on MTV's "I Used to be Fat" and worked out at the club.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the reason behind the club closing.


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