Yoga And Pilates Center Set To Open Downtown

Posted 2006-01-06

By Lee Zion

Harrisonburg leaders and downtown boosters will be bending over backward to welcome the city’s first yoga studio.

Classes begin on Monday at The Center, on the second floor of the Keezell Building at 122 S. Main St. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be Jan. 17.

The studio owner, Suzanne McCahill Perrine, is a dance teacher at Dance & Co. and James Madison University. She said she believes her studio fulfills a need.

"There are plenty of places to exercise in Harrisonburg, but none focused solely on Pilates and yoga, and none in the heart of downtown Harrisonburg," she said. "More and more people understand the benefits of Pilates and yoga, so now is the time."

McCahill Perrine added that Pilates in particular is "empowering" for people because they can work at their own pace, and still see results.

Part Of The Community

McCahill Perrine wanted her studio somewhere downtown from the start. As she envisions it, people can come to her classes, then walk to a place nearby for a cup of coffee, she said.

She also wants the downtown to thrive.

"I feel I’m more part of the community down here. And I think all the students feel that, too — like they’re all part of the community," she said.

She came across the perfect space by chance. She was talking to David Miller, who owns both Dave’s Downtown Taverna and the Keezell building.

Suzanne McCahill Perrine has developed The Center, a pilates and yoga studio in downtown Harrisonburg. Classes begin on Monday in the Keezell building, across from Dave's Downtown Taverna.

Photo by Nikki Fox

"He mentioned that he had this space available. And I saw it, and I loved the airiness in here. I love the light. It has a really nice feel to it," she said. "It’s almost like getting away when you come here. You’re doing your yoga and your Pilates — it’s like a little oasis."

And being near a well-known landmark helps. When she tells people she’s across the street from Dave’s, most people know exactly where that is.

Good Match For The Building

Miller said he’s glad to have the Pilates studio as a tenant. He said he’d like to see a greater diversity of downtown businesses.

"It brings more people downtown. It coincides with my goals for downtown — developing downtown, or seeing downtown, or helping downtown become a more vibrant city center. And various businesses are needed to make that happen," he said.

Miller added that the yoga and Pilates center is a good match for his second-floor space. Because the building has both businesses and residential apartments, he’s looking for low-profile business tenants that wouldn’t disrupt other tenants, he said.

And since the Keezell building was historically home to a business school and a music school, Pilates classes aren’t too far removed from what the rooms had been used for previously, Miller said.

Good Match For Downtown

Eddie Bumbaugh said he expects to see more business of this type coming to downtown.

"It’s an example of the types of specialty service that are common to many downtowns, where it’s a locally owned business that offers a service many people in the community find helpful.

"And it’s particularly attractive because it’s available to serve people who live and work downtown — it’s in walking distance," he said.

Contact Lee Zion at 574-6274 or lzion@dnronline.com

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