After 15 years in downtown Prince George, it was time to move.
XConditioning Physical Fitness Centre had been on the industrial side of Second Avenue since 2008. They opened their new gym in August at Parkhill Centre, Suite 150, 556 North Nechako Road.
“It’s smaller but it’s safer,” Mike Webber said about the new place that he co-owns with spouse Tara Webber.
Mike and Tara are world champion power lifters and certified personal trainers.
There’s been a sudden increase in membership and Webber knows the new location is a contributing factor.
“The biggest thing about being downtown was the amount of crime that’s down there now,” Webber said. “There’s nothing the city can do about it, there’s nothing the RCMP can do about it. Everyone thinks the RCMP can do something and they can arrest people but Crown has to charge them and they’re under the directive of the government on when to charge people and we see them get let go over and over again.”
Webber believes prolific offenders need to be held accountable for their actions because he believes it’s repeat offenders getting more and more bold in committing the majority of crimes.
“You can’t just ignore crime, that obviously doesn’t work,” Webber added.
Leaving downtown was a positive move.
“When we were downtown people were always checking out the cars and we’d have to chase them away,” Webber recalled. “Here it’s totally different. The atmosphere is different, clients feel more secure, they’re not worried about coming here late at night or that they’re going to have things stolen out of their cars. There’s a real sense of calm now that we’re out of the downtown.”
There’s security that frequently checks the property day and night and that helps, too.
“Clients that have come to the new location have told me they haven’t been downtown since we’ve moved,” Webber said. “And that’s a bad thing when people don’t want to go there.”
