The Bar 707 / Redwood Health Club

Overview

This is one of those Fort Bragg buildings that was never really about ornament. It was built to be used hard, adapted when needed, and kept in motion as town life changed around it.

At 401 Cypress Street, the building has had two very different public identities. For years, it was Redwood Health Club, a place people associated with swimming, racquetball, weight rooms, saunas, exercise classes, and family recreation. Later, after the health club closed, the building shifted into a new gathering role as The Bar 707.

That is a big change in function, but it still follows a familiar Fort Bragg pattern. A practical building survives by changing with the town.

Location

401 Cypress Street sits away from the polished storefront feel of Main Street, in a part of Fort Bragg where larger practical buildings make sense. The location works for a health club, a recreation facility, or a bar because it can hold more than a narrow downtown storefront could.

Buildings like this often carry the history of what people did inside them more than what they looked like from the street. In this case, the memories are full of water, racquetball courts, exercise rooms, remodeling, and later nightlife.

History

The strongest documented chapter at this address is Redwood Health Club. The Anderson Valley Advertiser described it in 2012 as a long-running Fort Bragg institution that had originally been started in the 1970s by Dr. Michael Goldman and later bought around 1980 by local contractor Don Pollard.

By the time it closed, Redwood Health Club had grown into far more than a simple gym. It included a full-size swimming pool, a hot jacuzzi pool, saunas, weight rooms, racquetball courts, tennis courts, classes, and meeting space. That made it one of the bigger recreational facilities in town before the C.V. Starr Community Center changed the local fitness and swimming landscape.

The community memories match that larger story. People remembered the original building as smaller, with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, separate weight rooms, and racquetball courts. Later remodeling expanded the building into the larger footprint many people knew. Others remembered going there as kids, swimming with their parents, watching racquetball from stadium-style seating, and seeing old-fashioned exercise equipment that now feels like it belongs to another era.

The closure came in 2012. The Anderson Valley Advertiser reported that Redwood Health Club shut its doors on June 30, 2012, after years of financial pressure, foreclosure by Savings Bank of Mendocino County, and major competition after the opening of the C.V. Starr center.

After that, the building moved into another public chapter. Current listings place The Bar 707 at 401 Cypress Street, showing how the former health club property became a bar and nightlife space. It is a very different use, but the building still serves as a place where people gather.

The Building Today

Today, the building is associated with The Bar 707. Instead of laps, workouts, racquetball games, and family pool time, the address is now tied to music, drinks, nightlife, and social gatherings.

The building's practical size and layout made that kind of transition possible. A structure large enough for pools, courts, meeting space, and recreation could also be adapted into a different kind of public-use building.

That continued reuse is part of the story. The building did not remain frozen as the old health club. It kept going.

Why It Matters

The Bar 707 / Redwood Health Club building matters because it represents two different kinds of Fort Bragg gathering places.

As Redwood Health Club, it was part of local health, recreation, and family life. People went there to swim, exercise, play racquetball, sit in the jacuzzi, take classes, and spend time with family. For many, it was one of the main indoor recreation places in town before the larger public facility at C.V. Starr changed the picture.

As The Bar 707, the same building shifted into another kind of social space. That change says something about how Fort Bragg reuses its practical commercial buildings. The purpose changes, but the gathering function remains.

This is not a decorative landmark. It is a working community building with a history of motion, noise, use, and adaptation.

Community Memories

Community memories bring the Redwood Health Club years into focus. One person remembered the original building being built around 1976 or 1977, with later remodeling that expanded it into the footprint people know today. The early version was remembered as having a small swimming pool, jacuzzi, separate male and female weight rooms, and racquetball courts.

Another person remembered making an offer to buy the building from Savings Bank after Redwood Health Club closed, only to lose it to a slightly higher offer. That memory adds a direct link to the foreclosure and transition period after the club shut down.

The childhood memories are some of the strongest. People remembered going there with their parents, swimming in the pool, watching racquetball from the stadium-style seats, and seeing the old belt exercise machine that shook back and forth. One memory also recalled the pool area during a remodel, when it was dirt and even became part of a haunted house. Those details are exactly what turn a closed health club into a living piece of Fort Bragg memory.

Timeline

1970s — Redwood Health Club was started by Dr. Michael Goldman.

Around 1976–1977 — Community memory places the construction of the original building around this period.

Around 1980 — Local contractor Don Pollard bought Redwood Health Club.

Later years — The building was remodeled and expanded, with a full-size pool, jacuzzi, saunas, weight rooms, racquetball courts, tennis courts, classes, and meeting space.

June 30, 2012 — Redwood Health Club closed after financial pressure, foreclosure by Savings Bank of Mendocino County, and competition following the opening of C.V. Starr Community Center.

Later chapter — The building became associated with The Bar 707 at 401 Cypress Street.

Current era — The address continues as a public gathering place, now connected to nightlife rather than health-club recreation.

Sources: Anderson Valley Advertiser, "Fort Bragg's Redwood Health Club Closes," July 3, 2012. Redwood Health Club Facebook listing. NorthOfSF Mendocino guide. Harbor Lite Lodge recreation listing. The Bar 707 website. Original post text and comment thread provided by Gee Bee, including contributor memories from Rus Jewett, Dave Martin, and Heather Capps.