A new gym catering to gay men is attempting to move forward to open in Fresno, but some neighbors are concerned that the addition will be a “magnet for trouble.”
That may be partly due to the fact that the new gym’s owner, Craig Harmon, is also the owner of “the Bunker,” an adult men for men sex club.
That club is set to close shortly to make room for California’s new high speed rail project. Leaving some locals concerned that the 24-hour gym will turn into Harmon’s new sex club.
The owner has assured Fresno residents that that will not be happening, instead describing the new spot as a “gym with gay orientation to cater to the gay community.”
Locals who are taking issue with the proposal say that it is not necessarily what will go on inside the gym that bothers them, but rather the side effects of having a 24-hour club open in their residential neighborhood.
Shelly Cummings, who lives right next door to the site of the proposed gym, is one of those people, saying:
“I am not speaking against people who want to do things like that. Everybody can do what they want, but for the neighborhood, it being in the middle of a neighborhood with the crime that is bad down here in Tower like it is now, I can’t see anything good coming out of it. I see people getting hurt.”
Local business owner Richie Shields agrees, saying, “The people that go there and having fun, not a problem, but it’s the byproduct of that — the people that are walking around — maybe prostitution, littering, drug use, things like that, I don’t want to see.”
The Fresno Planning Commission plans to meet to decide on the issue once the staff has more time to research the proposal. We will provide updates on when the planning commission and city council add this to their agenda for public comments when it becomes available.
Video available at ABC 30
