Montana Athletic Club under new ownership

The Montana Athletic Club is under new ownership as of Feb. 1.

“I’m just ecstatic to be here, it’s just a dream,” new owner Ericka Hartley said. “I’m so happy to have this opportunity. It’s always been my dream to own an athletic club. I’ve been athletic, active and outdoors all my life.”

Hartley has been in the fitness industry for around 19 to 20 years, and before that, she played in several sports growing up.

“My whole goal for myself is to be over 90-years-old and still be active,” Hartley said. “That’s what my model is for what I want for all of my members too, to keep them active for as long as possible.”

Recently moving back from Oregon, Hartley said that, while she enjoyed her time spent in the coastal state, she always wanted to be back in Montana, her home.

She grew up in Superior, Mont., and left for Oregon to be on the Zig Zag Hot Shots, a 20-person fire crew for the U.S. Forest Service that go nationwide.

That’s where she met Tyanne Hermes from Troy.

She was living in Gresham, Ore., and Hermes, who had moved back to Troy, stopped by for a visit.

They started brainstorming ways to bring her back home to Montana, and Hermes said that she heard Bonnie was trying to sell the Montana Athletic Club to the right person.

“[Hermes] connected us up, and that was it,” she said.

Bonnie had been wanting to sell since last year, after owning it for 15 years and working there since it opened 21 years ago.

Champion International owned the facility as a private fitness area for their employees. When the company left Libby, they turned the building over to the city, who in turn sold the rest of the equipment to the Montana Athletic Club recently as part of a lease negotiation.

She said that she’s not planning on making any big changes to the athletic club, but plans on adding some of her own

“Bonnie has given me an amazing club, staff, members and a solid foundation,” she said. “I’m not looking at changing anything in the lineup. I do have things that I want to bring.”

She is bringing back spin cycle classes and some classes that Bonnie was teaching, and she will host a strength-training class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon. She said she also would like to get a snowshoeing group together.