Anyone remember the Bodycenter gym?

Everything about that gym vanished. It’s even hard to find info about it now, almost like it never existed. But it did. And it became a cruising spot and then was closed.

Wow that's hot! Love the incredibly thin speedo.

That area of Sutter Street and Polk was, until recently, where all the rent boys were. Polk Street in the 70s was a sleazier Castro. Before my time but pre-AIDS it must have been glorious.

"exclusive"? What criteria had to be met?

You had to pay what was considered high prices at the time. Think of Equinox but men’s only

R4 I assume one had to have a penis to be a member…

Gym? Wasn’t it a bathhouse? No, not being snarky. I remember - I think it was called - Club Body Center. May have had a small fitness area but it was most definitely the baths.

R7 it was advertised as a gym.

The Bodycenter in L.A. was a small gym that featured Nautilus equipment. I was a member.

However, the 8709 bathhouse was located in the same building, though there was no physical connection between them. The Bodycenter fronted on 3rd Street, whereas you entered the 8709 through a door around the corner and up a flight of stairs.

"Became the most legendary of Los Angeles' bathhouses. Though located on an inconspicuous street corner, on the inside of the 8709 there was an elaborate maze, much black paint, and rooms large and small. According to legend, closeted actors entered through a secret door that led to an unlit, anonymous orgy room. The 8709 also attracted an endless stream of blonde surfer types who migrated, erotically charged, from the disco down the street. One customer of the 8709 reminisces about being 'fortunate enough to go there,' and recalls how he was always amazed by the beautiful men.' Another remembers 'walking through the large orgy room that was packed so tight with bodies you couldn't move.' "

R9 that sounds awesome Why can’t we have good things anymore?

There are still very busy gay sex clubs in many countries.

That gym looks like nothing but a pickup scene!

The NYC location at 552 6th Ave became Dave Barton’s first gym.

R9: Wow. That sounds amazing. It’s a whole different level of gay I’ll never experience. It’s like I live on another planet.

It soon became the DeadBodycenter.

R14 yes because everything is sanitized now.

Sanitized? So you haven't fucked around Paris and Berlin.

We are speaking about the states. Not Paris or Berlin.

Says who everything on DL is limited to the states? All this bitter moaning about how much better everything was in the past and it's all gone now. Meanwhile out in the big wide world, you can be a raunchy gay slut for the night at parties events and sex clubs, if that's your nirvana. You haven't missed anything. Same tone on the short shorts of 1980 thread. OH, THOSE WERE THE BEST BODIES EVER! Open your eyes - the world is filled with beautiful young men, TODAY.

R19 once again showing he’s a retard. This shit needs to end. Go do something and get off here.

This is a thread about a gym that was in San Francisco, LA and NYC but you didn’t know we were speaking about American cities? That makes sense to you?

I was responding to R14.

I'd love to know if that guy in the ad is still around and what he looks like now.

This is him with his two children two years ago.

R9 Tell us more about 8709. I moved to LA just before it closed down and never got to see it. Guys talked about it for years after the fact. Right by the Beverly Center and just down the street from West Hollywood, long before that whole area became a city block of hospitals. I am curious to know, I heard they would check you out at the door through a peep hole, if you were not good looking enough, they didn't let you in. Was that true?

AIDS AIDS AIDS yeah

Pretty much r25. The AIDS pandemic shut all that shit down.

The 8709 had a reputation for being very discriminatory, R24 but I honestly can't remember how they enacted it. The street door was non-descript but I don't recall a peephole. I want to say that someone was stationed right inside the door, but I could be mis-remembering. After entering, the check-in cashier was at the top of the stairs. (I definitely remember having to wait in line on those stairs when it was busy.) The rest is lost in the mists of time.

The models name is Hal Harley. The original prints of the photos from that shoot with photographer Kenn Duncan were sold years ago. There were photos from that shoot featured in After Dark magazine and that one photo was used as an ad in GQ.

Hal Harley is still a ladies man (as of a few years ago). He loves to surround himself with attractive women. He hasn’t posted in over 2 years so who knows if he’s alright.