Monday, September 12, 2011
TnT Health Club (Bath house)
Tnt Health club is located on 8 mile rd in Detroit. It has been open for years, I'm not sure exactly the year it opened. I have not been there in years. I've heard that they are not open 24 hours anymore. It has a indoor swimming pool and the facilities are quite nice. They had a fire years ago and the "rooms" burned down, so they had tents set up in this large room. Then when The Body Zone opened it forced them to build new ones. I think the Body Zone takes most of the bath house business. Share your stories, I'm sure you have many!
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It was a very nice place but a little bad management went a long way.
ReplyDeleteBusiness at bathhouses is no where near as it was back 10-15 years and earlier. But the TNT owner, Steve, is his club's worst enemy. He's treated both members and employees with contempt, so much so, that the vast majority of current members are 65 and over. Most of the former TNT members have moved over to the Body Zone, where they are allowed to do their thing without interference from BZ management.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the BZ is very dirty and rundown, compared to the TNT, which is very clean, but, it seems, the patrons prefer the generlly younger, more diverse and more open crowd at BZ than the retirning (and retired) group at TNT.
The TNT in the early to mid 80's also had a bar next to it.
ReplyDeleteIt was formerly a Silhouette health spa if I remember correctly. When it changed to TNT Bar there were three bars within. One was a piano bar. I played there for about a year in 1980-81. The other was a dance bar with a huge dance floor and the other one was outside by the built in pool. You could party all night at three different bars and then walk next door to the bath house and spend the night. It was great. Never had to worry about drunk driving. Does anyone else remember any more details about the TNT Bar?
I remember going to the dance bar and then to the club in 1980. didn't know about the piano bar. what a setup - three bar areas and a bathhouse. those were the days!
DeleteThe TNT Bar eventually became CHEEKS - see LABELS
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I rented a room to a guy that worked at the 'TNT'
ReplyDeletenice looking guy...(Kevin) yet scudzy boyfriends.. ....oh well
he also did nude modeling..any way hope all worked out for you Kevin..PS his checks bounced most of the time..hard time getting my rent money...take care..Don Hawkins
Back in the 1980s, at the height of the disco era, the bar was known as "Cheeks." It was one of the first Detroit area New York style "Saturday Night Fever" bars, and it became an instant hit, and it was always packed. So much so, that the owners resorted to the "Velvet Rope" technique of allowing only certain persons inside. At the time, Channel 7 news anchor, Doris Biscoe attempted to go inside, but was barred by the guy controlling the rope. Shortly after, the incident was written about in a gossip column in one of the local newspapers. Cheeks capitalized on the incident, and printed up and handed out thousands of bumper stickers that said: "Cheeks Bar - No Disco For Biscoe."
ReplyDeleteI don't care!! I want to swim nude!!!
ReplyDeleteMan I forgot about this place kinda. I moved to Detroit in the mid 80's and went here a few times and had a blast! One night I went hooked up with the hottest guy ever and played with him all night. T he next morning we ran off on our ways .I had an interview that day so was super excited! Imagine my embarrassment when I show up at the Elwood to be interviewed by my night before Gent! Was hired and loved the job and loved TNT since . I think I bought a lifetime membership there after that!
ReplyDeleteUsed to go regularly in the 80s into the 90s. Had a bit of an "affair" with one of the hot guys who ran the Country Video shop (part of the health club with access from within or from the outside). Great guy, lots of fun both in the club and outside. He introduced me to Menjo's, He was also a waiter at a restaurant in Grosse Point Farms.
ReplyDeleteNew ownership today, what would it be like???
ReplyDeleteAwhile back one of the national bath chains was interested in purchasing the club......such a shame it never happened. Used to be a great place! But, sadly, Steve the owner has really destroyed the place. An immaculate club, great facilities. Unfortunately, the last few times I went there the pool had been shut down as well as the whirlpool. The use to have great barbaque during the summer months & always had dinner on holidays. It used to be a great place to go during the summer to sunbath. Such a shame its not what is used to be. Someone else stated that Steve the owner is the club's worst enemy.....they were right.
ReplyDeleteOpen the pool back up and I know at least 100 guys who will join the club
DeleteI was a frequent patron of the TNT during the 1990s. It was definitely a superior facility to the Body Zone, even when the BZ was at its newest. The holiday parties and barbecues could be fantastic.
ReplyDeleteFor a while I frequently seeing Mario, one of the men who worked at the TNT during the daytimes; he would confide in me that either the owners or someone who worked for Body Zone repeatedly attempted to sabotage the facilities of the TNT. The steam room was out of commission for a while because someone had climbed on the roof and stuffed a ventilation pipe with trash, shutting down the whole mechanism. The (very hot!) hot tub was similarly sabotaged, as well as other areas of the roof in order to induce weather leakage.
Whether there was actual sabotage, or whether Steve felt under pressure by competition from the BZ and simply attributed natural decay and neighborhood mischief to them, I don't know.
Other commenters have pointed out that Steve, the owner, was his own saboteur, and it's true. By the 2000s he had forced out most of his reliable staff. Frequently he'd get on the loudspeakers and rant over the disco music about the weirdest crap—his feelings of persecution, Detroit red tape, the weather—for as long as an hour at a time.
The final straw for me was in the late 00's when I'd finished my business, turned in my towel and key, retrieved my card and license, and exited out the back door. Just outside the door I'd opened a stick of chewing gum and stuck it in my mouth to freshen my breath, when Steve came vaulting out over the desk and into the parking lot to scream at me that gum was forbidden in the club. I pointed out that I was no longer in the club, which made him angrier. He demanded to know my name so he could revoke my membership, and then insisted I go back into the club with a trowel to clean up all the gum throughout. I drove off shaking my head, and never felt compelled to return.
I used to work at TNT for 3 years it was a nice place to work at even though he was hard to balance out my job and go home to be with my better half but at the same time it was good to work with my coworkers the owner Steve was a b i c t h but he had a little kindness in him the owner of the building was real cool to hang with and get to know and learn from but other than that it's a shame that a legendary building is going to waste and no one's going to buy it or tear down and make something out of it good luck to the legendary TNT
ReplyDeleteBrings back many memories from long ago. I met Dan and Steve in Buffalo while they were sailing a boat back from Florida. I drove back to Detroit with Dan, stayed at there place for a while and worked at TNT when it first opened. I was more of a straight kid but enjoyed being around the scene. Wonder where I would be today if I stuck around.
ReplyDelete