CrossFit gym move just in time to avoid flooding

The mother and son business duo at CrossFit NXNW in Port Orchard are still breathing sighs of relief as a change in business locations likely saved them from thousands of dollars in damage and a potentially lengthy shutdown.

Maureen Pace and her son Steven, with the help of some clients, moved everything from their decade-old gym to their new location at 1341 Bay St. in the Westbay Center. The very next day, the King Tides of Dec. 27 washed into the vacated space at 626 Bay St., an amount of water that Steven said would have been disastrous for them.

“Had we not moved, it would have ruined everything basically. There was about a foot of water in there,” he said.

The urge to move had grown in past months due to a lack of space and a “doubled” price in rent. However, for years, flooding was the biggest concern for the duo, as high tides would pose threats to the space and everything inside it. The lower foundation of the building and the frequency and unpredictability of flooding kept them on their toes. Maureen recalled an instance where they had to rush to prep the building after being alerted of a flood at 4:30 a.m.

“His dad and I were awake. He jumped the gun and came down here and sure enough, it was coming up. So he and I ran down and put sandbags out,” she said. “Luckily it didn’t flood, but it got right up to the door.”

Maureen said she didn’t have much urgency getting the move done, but after seeing the flooding she’s glad they did finish.

“I’m glad they took everything,” she said, “routers, water coolers and everything because it would have been underwater.”

Steven said they are excited about settling in to their new business home.

“It’s big; it’s opened up,” he said. “It’s a nice, squared building compared to when we were confined to a triangle shape. This building is more insulated, so it’s actually warm here as, for the last place, we were in a garage basically.”