Sonoma Fit to add pool and change bowling alley location

Adam and Jenny Kovacs, the owners of the Sonoma Fit gyms on Highway 12 and in Petaluma, plan to add an indoor pool to their Sonoma facility by early 2020.

'And this isn't going to be anything like the old smelly indoor pools from your youth,' said Adam Kovacs. 'There are new technologies in how indoor pools are built that provide a totally new level of experience.'

The 25-meter pool facility will include locker rooms and infrared saunas, and will be available via membership or a drop-in basis.

'People love the low-impact, full body workout of swimming but Sonoma has cold nights and a rainy season,' he said. 'With an indoor pool, people can swim day and night all year round.'

A new outdoor pool is also planned for the couple's new So Fit Petaluma location in summer 2020.

The Kovacs' business endeavors aren't exclusive to the fitness world. In 2017, the couple launched plans to open a bowling alley adjacent to their Sonoma Fit location on Highway 12.

But Kovacs said he had to scratch plans for the lanes, restaurant and bar planned for the vacant space at 19310 Sonoma Highway. That space is where the new pool will be located.

'The deeper we got into the (bowling alley) renovations, the more issues arose that kept bumping the cost higher and higher,' said Kovacs, and it didn't make sense to put that much money in a space the Kovacs leased and didn't own.

'There were issues with the sewer and with the parking lot that just couldn't be solved,' he said. Kovacs estimated that the project was set to incur almost a quarter of a million dollars in unexpected expenses in that location.

But his 10-pin dreams aren't in the gutter just yet – as Kovacs has identified a new location for the bowling alley. The Kovacs own the 4,295 square foot office building at 1247 Broadway, just north of TrainTown, and he said his team at Strata A/P Design is currently working on sketches for that space.

'It is actually a better location,' he said, of the 1.17 acre property on the west side of the street. 'It has more parking and a great outdoor space for ping-pong and foosball.'

The couple has also broken ground on a new gym in at 1727 Grant Ave. in Novato. Construction started last week and the club could open as early as January, 2020, according to Kovacs.

The new Novato club will be the largest in the local chain. At more than 20,000 square feet, the gym 'will have everything you could possibly need or want in a club,' Kovacs said. Memberships are being sold now.

The first Sonoma Fit club opened at 19310 Sonoma Highway in 2016. The couple's Petaluma club opened at 90 Casa Grande Road at the end of 2018.

Up next for the Kovacs? Adam says So Fit clubs in Santa Rosa and San Francisco are in the works. Members will have access to all clubs.

Email Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.