After 55 Years, Iconic Doug's Gym in Downtown Dallas to See Its Last Weight Lifted

A few weeks back, a handful of regulars crowded into Doug Eidd's office for a late-afternoon bull session with the namesake of the 55-year-old downtown Dallas gym. I couldn't hear much of what they were talking about -- I was strapped into the vibrating-belt machine next to the office, trying to loosen a bum back with the antique once marketed as a weight-loss miracle. Then, over the din -- the clank of the half-century-old weights, the whir of the jiggling machine, the thwack of fists connecting with the punching bag -- I could hear Doug loud and clear, his voice a raspy boom bouncing off the sagging pressed-tin ceiling."Some people think time doesn't even exist," said the strongman philosopher who presides over a business that looks today as it did when Jack Ruby was still spinning the Carousel Club a few blocks down the street.  Continue reading...