The Salvation Army Kroc Center

This is a review of the pool. We bought a one day pass and for 2 adults and a toddler it was $ 20. We were there less than 2 hours.
Con’s
There is so much chlorine in the pool! My eyes burned and I had to leave the pool multiple times to rinse them out.
There are so many lifeguards that are «whistle happy» That is all I heard! I kept turning my head every minute to see who was doing what wrong.
It is unfortunate that some of the parents were not paying attention to their children and letting them do whatever they wanted. Poor parenting is probably why the lifeguards needed to keep on top of the kids so much.
Pro’s
Affordable even if it is just for 1 – 2 hours. Perfect for a toddler.
The family changing rooms were great. You have your own toilet and shower. I was very impressed with the family changing rooms.
The front desk staff were very nice.
The facility was very clean
Free parking lot

I really love the Kroc center! It’s a great and much needed addition to the Dorchester/​Roxbury neighborhood. It’s really great for kids and adults alike.
My 67 year old parents come here every morning to exercise and meet up with friends. They have a very large weight room filled with everything you need. The cardio room is small but I’ve never had a problem finding a machine as this place has hardly ever been packed. They offer cycling class and a few great workout classes. If you like a hard workout that will make you sweat take any class that Michelle teaches you won’t be disappointed and your body will thank you!
They also have the huge pool! My parents go every morning and do aerobics! I’m so happy they have this awesome place to go during the day to workout and mingle. Make sure you get a membership if you live in the area your body will definitely thank you!

Attended a birthday party at the Kroc Center in Dorchester. Lots of parking available which is a big plus! Facility is huge and modern. The area where the party was held was also spacious (and there are two refrigerators and a sink in the party room!). The pool area was also great. Party was on a Sunday and it wasn’t too busy. I’m just not sure if the place gets packed on other days (e.g. Saturday). All in all, it’s a great place to bring the kids (or have a party). I would go more often if I didn’t live 25 miles away.

This is an excellent facility with a newer feel and well-​lit. There’s plenty of good, working equipment and you never have to wait. I also like that each machine has an individual tv even though I never watch it. I like the option. People have already commented on the cleanliness-​it is indeed notable and a huge plus for me. Staff is super nice except one cleaning lady who is a bit overzealous when it comes to cleaning the locker rooms (seriously lady ALL the stalls are closed for cleaning, I can’t use one?!)
I took away two stars for 4 reasons:
1. The hours are killing me. It doesn’t open until 7, closes at 9, and then on Saturday it closes at 5 pm (!) and on Sunday is only open from 2 – 6 (I get that you’re a church facility but my goodness.) The hours actually may make me have to join another gym as I need way more flexibility in my schedule.
2. So many classes during the day and not as many options at night. Who’s going to that? Do people not have jobs that they have to go to during the day? I also don’t care for the sign-​up system now. I get why you have to do it and I know most gyms have something like this, but it’s just not convenient for me to log into some system to sign up for a class 24 hours in advance. Maybe if they developed an app?
3. This might be more of a 2b, but the quality level of the fitness classes. I’ve been to a few and I’m just not that impressed. I used to teach fitness classes at many gyms in Virginia and I think a certain professionalism is key when you are a fitness instructor. Show up 15 minutes early at the latest, be prepared, have a great routine/​music, and enjoy what you’re doing/​have a great attitude. It also helps if your routines/​music are engaging and you know something about exercise physiology (thinking warm-​up, cool down, safe motions, etc.) I think some of these folks are hit or miss, especially the Zumba ones.
4. No mirrors in the weight room area. If I had to guess the reason for not having them it’s probably cultural, but when I first arrived I found it difficult to lift without a mirror. I mean, how do you know if your form is right? I know from years of training, but the average person needs to be able to see what she is doing in order to make sure her range of motion is correct.
In conclusion I suppose it’s worth it for only 50.00 a month. But if my old Planet Fitness gym in Dorchester had individual tvs at their machines (and was a little closer), I’d drop this gym in a second. The classes, which was my initial draw and PF doesn’t do those, just aren’t that great.

It blows me away that people spend 3 times as much going to other indoor water parks. For $ 15 total, my 7 year old daughter and I can both splash around all day, hit the water slide, and lounge in the lazy river!
The facility is modern, in great shape, and an absolute BARGAIN for the price. Either some people don’t know about it, or suburbanites are wary about heading into a Dorchester water park. Whatever the reason, I’m not complaining. The place is great, staff is polite, private family changing rooms with showers are excellent, and kids love the automatic bathing suit spinners.
Get a membership, or a day pass, and get your Kroc on! I even saw the little café last time I was there. I’ll have to try it out next time…

I had my daughter’s fifth birthday party at the pool here. The pool area is really nice and my daughter and her friends had a lot of fun, but that is mainly because they didn’t have to deal with the headache that The Kroc Center imposed.
For their pool parties, they now have this rule that you get the room for an hour and a half before the party and the pool for the rest (but you can go into the pool earlier if you like), but you must vacate the room after the first hour and a half. This means that you have to eat, have cake and ice cream and sing happy birthday, and all of that before going swimming. Why would they have the kids eat and then go swimming? Also you have to have the room completely cleaned out after the first hour and a half, but if the adults are bringing their children into the pool, how can they also clean out the room? …and where do we then hold all of the extra food and the presents? I had to bring extra people who didnt have children and werent going to swim (extra people cost more) to clean out the room and bring everything to the cars while I took the kids to the pool… and most parents want to go in the pool with their child for safety sake.
They say that they do this now because when they had the room available after the pool, the people didnt leave on time BUT they didnt even have another party after ours. We cleaned out the whole room and vacated it and when we looked in the room after (it’s a glass room that overlooks the pool), two employees were just sitting in there having lunch ??? The room wasn’t even needed. It was just a really big inconvenience and made the party rushed and that much more hectic. I had to have the kids eat superfast so they could go in the pool and we could clean out the room.
As nice as this new facility, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone because it was just too overwhelming to have to rush through the party and I dont like the idea of stuffing the kids quickly with food and then sending them off to swim.
I would’ve given two stars but I gave it three stars because the kids had a great time, the price wasn’t bad at $ 250 for three hours, and most of the staff (minus one who was rude) were friendly.

Very bright and beautiful facility. Clean and family friendly. They have something for everyone there. The reason they receive 4 stars instead of 5 is because they ARE ALWAYS changing the group exercise classes especially the Saturday ones. I like taking Zumba Saturday mornings. The classes are tight especially the spin class but hats off the management who added additional classes without hesitation.

Where do I start? There are just so many awesome things to say about this place! It has always been a task on it’s own to find a facility that works around my schedule, being a full time worker and mother, so when I found the Kroc Center, I was beyond delighted. And the fact that it was just down the street made it all the merrier.
First and foremost, as someone else mentioned previously, everything is state of the art. I was truly knocked off my feet the first time I walked in this building. I heard it was nice, but I didn’t expect anything like this. The place is so big, that during my tour, the tour guide, whom was exceptional, found a room he’d never even seen before. (Granted, he was new.) They have everything from a beautiful fitness area with awesome treadmills, rock climbing, an enormous basketball court, peace chapel, performing arts theater, recording studio, daycare services, after school programs, Zumba, Yoga, Boot Camp and the list keeps going. Oh, but THE POOL!!! Talk about jaw-​dropping! It’s like a mini water park, with a water slide and all. This hands down, is my daughter’s favorite part about the Kroc Center, and maybe even mine.
As I mentioned before, the operating hours and services they provide are awesome. They have classes as late as 9 I believe and offer child care services, with plenty to do for the children, while you are working out. It doesn’t get any better for the working mom. My favorite classes are Zumba and Boot Camp. The classes are full of energy and the instructors really know what they are doing.
The staff is extremely friendly and accommodating. I love how helpful they are.
Cleanliness? Let’s just say, I would almost feel comfortable enough to eat off the floor. This place is spotless at all times. BIG THUMBS UP!
One of my favorite things about the layout is if you are doing cardio on the second floor, you have a great view of the kids enjoying themselves in the pool area, rather than staring at other people huffing and puffing, covered in sweat.
Location of the building is great. If you have a car, there is always plenty of parking, and if you are using public transportation, it’s next door to a train station and the bus drops you off at the front door.
Overall, I LOVE this place and I have zero complaints so far. My daughter loves it, my friends who have recently joined love it and I am sure if you join, you will love it too.

I live in Dorchester and totally appreciate and love the Kroc Center.
Let’s face it, sometimes it is hard to stay motivated to go to the gym. For me, classes keep me motivated. They offer 25 classes a week. I have attended spinning class and muscle conditioning and have found both the instructors to be fantastic. I plan on attending Zumba today! The classes are not crowded and the space is clean in bright, with hardwood floors, nice lighting, and mirrors.
The cardiovascular section is also clean and big. There are treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, and stair climbers. Each machine has an ipod hookup and television step. From the look of it, the weight area looks nice too. For me, I get anxious when there are no other women lifting; I wish there was a special «women only» section or special «women only» times for using the weight machines. That’s just me though.
The aquatic area is nice too, the pool is heated.
As for price, it varies. I am a student, so the price is very reasonable (less than $ 30 a month). They offer financial aid for people who qualify, but I think for many it may be a bit expensive.
I’ve been really impressed with the facilities here. It doesn’t ever seem that crowded, I“ve never had to wait to use equipment… with that said, I hope more people come to check it out!
Free parking too!

Very clean gym and locker rooms. The exercise equipment is spectacular too– with individual TVs on each treadmill, elliptical, bike. Ipod hook-​ups are also available on each machine.
The class times are great for working people — I can always find a class to take every weeknight at 7pm or 8pm. Kick Boxing and Boot Camp are fun — I’ve heard the same about Spinning and Zumba. The instructors are very high energy and keep the class working hard. The group fitness room is well lit, with mirrors covering two walls, and has a bouncy wooden floor. Group fitness classes (both gym ones and aquatic ones) are included in the price of the membership
The aquatic center looks fun too and is always staffed with life guards. They also have an entire family locker room (separate from the women’s and men’s locker rooms) that might appeal to families with children. The family locker room is a series of small rooms that each contain a sink, toilet, shower, and changing area. Each family room is behind its own locked door for privacy. Probably works well to contain toddlers while Mom changes.
They also have free parking in a lot behind the building.
I deduct a star because the price (about $ 50 per month) might be out of reach for some in the area. Also, I’ve been to two classes where the instructors were late.
Additional information that some may find helpful: This gym is more like the typical Y, than a Boston Sports Club or Equinox. There is no steam room, sauna, or towel service and the gym only has liquid soap in the showers — no shampoo or conditioner. There are no hair dryers in the locker room either. They do offer 1.5 hours of free babysitting for kids while Moms/​Dads work out. That seems like a nice perk.

The Kroc Center is a wonderful addition to our neighborhood!
It is stunningly beautiful, everything inside is state of the art, they cut no corners (well, maybe one or two, which I’ll mention in a second), and all of the staff are incredibly well versed in customer service.
There are after school programs for the kiddies, early morning swims/​exercise for seniors, I dare you to find a better equipped gym anywhere in the city– it is open all day and staffed all day, with weights and strength machines on the first level, and numerous cardio machines on the second level. There are classes of all sorts– cycling, spinning, rinsing, zumba, turbo kickboxing, aqua aerobics, you name it. Swim lessons for kids, adults, and seniors. There is a regulation sized gymnasium that has designated times for open play and organized play.
The swimming pool is hands down the best, prettiest, and most well designed in town! You really HAVE to SEE it to believe it.
They offer supervised child care for parents or caregivers who wish to use the facilities, but need this service.
There is a snack bar. There are sitting areas. Heck, the place is gigantic, and there are parts of it I haven’t even seen yet.
There is a professional kitchen, where I heard that, at some point, they will be doing cooking lessons on preparing healthy meals.
Drawbacks: just one, really. If you live in the neighborhood, which it was built to enrich the neighborhood, you may find a membership a little pricey. Financial assistance is available, but even with that, it’s still expensive to many– depending on your situation. I must deduct a star for this. It’s a problem. One that has been brought to their attention, but nothing seems to be happening about it. However, I heard that no one has ever been turned away for financial reasons.
Cutting corners? Only one. In the fitness area, there is only ONE water fountain, and one bathroom, and they are downstairs. Meaning if you are upstairs, getting your cardio on, and you need the bathroom or water, you have to break your routine, go downstairs, get it/​use it, and come back up. They were already building, money was already being spent, would it have really been that much more to add an extra water fountain and bathroom?
Other than that, the place is like heaven on Earth. Oh. Speaking of heaven, it is the Salvation Army, so they do offer church services, choirs, performing arts, etc. on Sundays, and at other times as well.
Very thankful for the Kroc Center– love it! You will, too!