Zoom and enhance…
I found it – my old gym. There’s no doubt about it, looking at Google Street View, though it appears to have been a Chinese restaurant in 2019 when the Google van drove down Branch Avenue. I think I remember that Chinese restaurant being there, so the gym was next door (offtopic trivia: did you know the house Queen Elizabeth II was born in is now a Chinese restaurant?).
The Wikipedia article on the neighborhood is illustrated with the picture above, taken in 2014, and you can clearly see Gameday Fitness on the fence (obligatory link to the Wikimedia entry for the photo). I think that’s a different name, but still a gym.
But how on earth did I not remember it was in a historic building? Wanskuck Mills, built in 1862. In the 1880’s, the company spent $20,000 to install electric lights – the first mill to have it.
In my defense, I was only ever there before or after work – in other words, in the dark – and the gym was in what I think was a later addition. It was always apartments above, I think.
In 2015, the feds found 1,400 marijuana plants spread over seven apartments and put the building owner William Ricci in jail for this and other crimes.
But wait! There’s more! Digging behind the mill in 2017, the FBI found the body of Steven A. DiSarro, manager of the Channel nightclub in South Boston, who had been missing since 1993. In 2018 mob boss “Cadillac Frank” Salemme was convicted of the killing. He died last month in prison, age of 89.
I don’t suppose those names mean much to you, but they resonate. Howie Carr (who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston mob) was always going on about them. Providence was rumored to be the biggest mafia stronghold in the States (yes, little Providence).
And that’s the story of Weasel’s gym. I kept missing it because I hooked a left on Charles Street. Should have been Branch Avenue.
Posted: January 9th, 2023 under personal.
Comments: 3
Comments
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: January 10, 2023, 12:43 am
I’m glad you were successful tracking the gym down, Stoaty. I’ve done this a couple of times and so I know the satisfaction it brings. There’s much about Google/Alphabet to be pissed off about, but Maps with Streetview and Earth are gems.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: January 10, 2023, 2:30 am
Did you know Her Majesty was deliberately born in a Chinese Restaurant to embarrass Harry and Megan because she was afraid Megan would steal her spotlight and be voted in as Queen? If only everyone would give the Dork and Dorkess of Suscisgender privacy they wouldn’t be constantly forced to talk about the pimples on Megan’s ass or the sub par size of Harry’s non-weasel awarded dick.
Kudos for your dedication to finding the gym Stoaty!
And congratulations on your success!
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: January 10, 2023, 3:15 pm
I have to admire your sticking to your New Year’s resolution about getting back to the ol’ gym Stoaty, and while I must say that – technically – you are probably within the Letter of The Law here, I feel that you are missing something of the spirit generally intended in such a resolution.
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