Curley Community Center

Like someone said, the weight room looks like a prison weight room. That reviewer thinks it’s a bad thing, I certainly don’t. People are in there to lift, this isn’t planet fatass with shiny equipment all over the place, but there is everything you really need in there. You cannot beat the price if you have a Boston address. Out of town address I think it’s 150 $/​year.
If you are into lifting and like a room with a little grit, this is the spot for you. Not to mention it’s been here forever and it’s good to support the community.

Moved to southie about a month ago and checked out other gyms around the area before I found Curley. Yes the other gyms were much nicer and had more to offer but if you don’t need classes and a massive swimming pool than this is the place to go. Not to mention other many other gyms are 70 per month while this place is 100 for the year with a great location if your from southie. If your fine with old equipment and can workout on your own then you can’t beat it.

I’m a serious athlete who lifts regularly and likes a basic, no-​frills gym, so that’s where this review is coming from. I was a regular attendee here for about five months until I moved out of Southie. The gym is good, it has two separate weight rooms, a cardio room, a basketball gym, several group fitness classes, a spin studio, punching bags, a sauna (in the women’s locker room at least) and a private beach. So… it’s big and versatile.
The locker rooms are old but kept clean. One of the weight rooms is women only from about 4-​close on week nights which I took advantage of because it was basically empty and I didn’t have to wait for machines or the squat rack (there’s only one). Good stuff. That being said, the women’s weight room didn’t have a dumbbell heavier than 20 lbs and there wasn’t a bench rack. Kinda frustrating but nothing I couldn’t get around with a bit of finagling.
The main weight room was usually crowded when I went in (6−8pmish) so I rarely went in there. However, it seemed like there was a good range of free weights and some machines. There are also two rowing machines but both were broken when I joined, but I haven’t checked since then so they might be fixed now.
The cardio room isn’t big but has treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals. You have to get a safety chip from the front desk at the L st entrance to use the treadmills. I figured that out the hard way. Like I said it’s not big, but I was always able to find a free machine.
I didn’t take any classes or use the beach so I can’t speak to that. Overall, it’s a great gym and an awesome deal ($ 120/​year which includes beach and classes). You get what you pay for and nothing more but that’s fine with me. Loosing the one star because of the broken rowers, I wasn’t given a tour or shown how to use the cardio machines when I joined, and the limited selection in the women’s weight room. Small stuff, and I would definitely still be going here if I lived in the neighborhood.

I’ll admit I was initially scared off from joining because I didn’t think the facility would be welcoming of a new-​to-​Southie person like me. I was totally wrong. Everyone has been as nice as can be. I love the women’s only weight room on weeknights. All of the classes are included-​the Zumba classes are great, and one month membership here costs less than a single class at the place I used to go! There’s spinning if you’re into that, and the adult ballet classes here are the best I’ve ever taken (ballet costs extra, but it’s totally worth it). It’s an older facility and the machines definitely aren’t sparkling new, but for $ 120/​year, it’s been perfect for me. I do wish it opened earlier in the mornings, stayed open later on weekends, and had classes a little later at night (last class starts at 6:30pm, even though it’s open till 9:30pm on weeknights), but it’s an amazing deal for what it is!

Not the best facility but nothing beats a $ 90/​year membership (classes included!). The staff are always very nice and greet me when I come in. There is a coed cardio room and then separate weight rooms (the weight rooms are coed on weekends though).
If you’re looking for a gym without all the bells and whistles then this can’t be beat.

Torn about this place. The price can not be beat, but as in previous reviews, it looks like a prison weight room. Equipment is in shoddy shape and Cop friends I’ve gone with say half the people they saw were people they had actually locked up at one point. On the good side, there is plenty of room, and everyone minds to themselves. Not really friendly, but everyone is there purely to work out Which is a nice contrast to the typical meat market Gyms that have become so popular.

The annual membership cost of $ 90 (with classes) is a real bahgan. While I don’t reccomend utilizing the weight room (a bit reminiscent of a prison rec room), the classes are all great. This place could definitely use some spiffing up and a REAL good antibacterial wipe– down though. However, with that aside I will stand by my initial statement and say all and all I’m pretty pleased.

Really, this is a 2 star place with a 5 star price. Add in the brand new spin bikes they got a few months ago, and I’ll give it 4.
To be fair, the only thing I really use this gym for is spin class since it’s too damn cold and salty out there to ride on the road. The classes are good enough… and for $ 70 bucks a year I really can’t complain at all. Not that I would ever complain about spinning to such classic tunes as It’s Raining Men and Purple Rain in a room full of women ten years my elder.
The place has a pretty warm community vibe, like a lot of places in Southie. For you ladies out there, I’m told the women only gym is a nice perk. As for me, I wouldn’t set foot in the men’s weight room with my scrawny build, plus I don’t have an Everlast t-​shirt cut off above my belly button. Then again, I wouldn’t really ever set foot in any weight room, so who am I to judge.
My only word to the wise on the classes is get there pretty early (like a half hour early) or sometimes there won’t be a spot left for you.

I just became a member a couple of weeks ago and am super pleased with my gym choice. It’s only a couple of blocks away from my house and for $ 70 a year I can use all of their equipment ensconced in a quirky high school gym environment and partake in their surprisingly wide variety of classes. They even have spinning! The only class I’ve been to is Fusion Dance and, so far, I am the youngest participant by about 20 years so I feel super cool when I’m the only one who knows how to grind my hips to Né-​Yo. I like feeling super cool. Also, you can use their private beach whenever you want regardless of there being a lifeguard on duty or not. If you’re a lady and want to do some lifting sans grunting burliness there’s a women’s-only weight room from 4:30 to 9:30. There is a pretty ginormous locker room with changing rooms, showers, a sauna and a steam room and, of course, lock-​your-​own lockers. FYI — there is a sign outside of the steam room and sauna that begs you not to use them if you have any communicable diseases. Really?! Is this necessary? What kind of incident did they have there that prompted this sign? Gross. Anyway, the reasons why I’m not giving it 5 stars is because the hours are a little inconvenient (they open at 8 am so I can’t work out before work) and there are a lot of machines that are out of order though there are plenty of others to use. But, for less than a month’s cell phone bill I really can’t complain much, can I?

My local gym. At $ 50/​year ($ 70 if you want to take classes), what have you got to lose? There are showers, full-​sized lockers, bike racks, even a sauna and steam room. The equipment is old, and there’s not a lot of it, but there aren’t many people there either. The weight rooms look out on the bay, and there’s a private strip of beach, too. It’s the best bargain in town for fitness.

Its previous incarnation was the L Street Bathhouse, which was completed in 1931. Now known as the Curley Community Center, will run you $ 70 a year for a full membership. For that kind of money, it’s certainly a bargain. There’s a members-​only beach, saunas and steam rooms, classes, weights, and machines. It’s not the most state of the art equipment, but it still works just fine. I’m so gonna do the Polar Plunge next year, too;)