Blue Water Iron Works
Clock in

61 of 100 founding spots claimed. $45 for life.

A former machine shop, two blocks off the river

The building

The building spent 60 years making parts for boats. We kept the crane rail, the floor drains, and the loading door that opens wide enough to back a truck in. The platforms went down where the lathes stood.

The town

Port Huron moves tonnage for a living. Freighters slide under the Blue Water Bridge at all hours, loaded to the line, and nobody on the dock calls it a workout. It is Tuesday. The Works runs on the same idea: heavy is a normal thing, done by normal people, before and after shifts.

The idea

A gym that works the way the town works. Open early, priced straight, serious about the iron and easy about everything else. You do not need to be a competitor. You need to be willing to load the bar.

The rules

  1. Chalk up.
  2. Rack your iron.
  3. Spot when asked.
  4. The bar doesn't care what time you got here.
  5. No filming anybody who didn't ask to be filmed.
  6. Last one out kills the lights.
The riveted crane rail and girders on the machine-shop ceiling. A chalk bowl on the corner of a wooden platform, a lifting belt over a loaded bar. A strongman yoke, farmer's handles, and a log press racked against a block wall. A half-open loading dock door before dawn, work light spilling onto wet concrete.

Come see the room. First session is free.

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