Doug’s Gym
In the fall of 2017, I climbed a sagging wooden staircase in a rundown two-story building to find an old gym with peeling paint, drooping tin ceiling, and ancient equipment. It was a relic from a bygone era. Doug Eidd, a grizzled eighty-seven-year-old with a perpetual cigar in his mouth, had owned and managed the gym since it opened in 1962. He worked ten-hour days, six days a week, running the gym and training members who sought out his considerable expertise.
In his heyday he worked with professional boxers and bodybuilders, but in recent years people of all backgrounds and body shapes joined the gym for its unpretentious atmosphere. I became one of them.
Doug had to close the gym on short notice in 2018. I returned every day to document the removal of the equipment until the gym was empty. I always thought that Doug’s Gym was a time capsule yet to be buried. The time had finally come.
I am sorry to report that Doug Eidd died of cancer on July 7th at his home surrounded by family and friends.
To inquire about prints, please call Ben Breard at the AfterImage Gallery
214-871-9140
Sign No. 1
Front Windows
West Wall No. 1
Doug at His Desk
Cutouts
Hanging Gloves
Kim's Boxing Lesson
Free Weights
Training Tami
Leroy
The Heavy Bag
Maureen
Doug's Closing Party
Empty after 55 Years