Carpe Diem CrossFit, a 10,000-square-foot facility at 4600 Alex Blvd. in Springfield, opened on May 10 and is holding a grand opening event on Monday. Local business owners Matt and Megan Saxsma, along with Karl and Shawn Backs, broke ground for the new business last fall and originally hoped to be open by January.
“The thing we ran into was trying to build and orchestrate this facility during COVID when the city offices were shut down and people were working remotely,” said Matt Saxsma, who also who owns Redefine Healthcare, a direct primary care practice, along with his wife, Megan. Saxsma noted that the property is located in an Enterprise Zone and the resulting tax incentives and property tax abatement “made new construction very attractive and financially feasible.”
The facility has already been pre-enrolling members and Saxsma said the initial response has been exciting. “Building from scratch gave us the opportunity to do everything we’d want in a facility,” he said. The gym will include 7,000 square feet of fitness floor space, plus traditional health club amenities such as locker rooms and showers. Saxsma said he hopes the new facility will appeal to a wide range of people who are interested in “functional fitness.”
Ashley Drabicki has been hired as the facility manager, along with eight other coaches on staff.
A grand opening event is planned for Memorial Day on Monday, May 31 from 7 a.m.-12 p.m. “It’s a pretty special holiday in the CrossFit world,” said Saxsma, noting that a special “hero workout” was created to honor fallen U.S. Navy Seal Michael P. Murphy, who was portrayed in the movie Lone Survivor, which has come to be known as The Murph Challenge. Free classes will be offered at 7, 8, 9 and 10 a.m. on Memorial Day.
