Castle Hill Fitness

Castle Hill Fitness

By Mary Tuma Friday, 15 January 2010

CENTRAL AUSTIN — With a diverse and extensive career in energy conservation, Paolo Minissi says opening Castle Hill Fitness was a “radical departure” from his past activities.

“I am a physics major by training, so moving into the gym business was not what you would consider a natural path or progression in my career,” he said.

Still, the solar power expert contends that an integral thread connects his new business to his former professional life.

“In everything I’ve done, I try to challenge the mundane,” Minissi said. “I try to add substance and refresh it. I follow the concept that says I don’t want to be put in a box, so I need to create my own destiny.”

The facility highlights Minissi’s background in conservation, offering reverse-osmosis purified water, sophisticated, individualized air-conditioning units, a full recycling program throughout the gym and plans to implement LED lighting, among other environmentally conscious features.

Additionally, cucumber, basil and other plants grow in garden boxes lining the outside wall of Castle Hill’s organic café, Food 4 Fitness, and are used in the ever-changing menu.

“If you noticed, it doesn’t smell like a gym in here. If we want our customers to have a good relationship with their body and mind, the environment needs to support that too,” he said.

A deceivingly small exterior façade on North Lamar Boulevard belies the spacious two-story interior of Castle Hill Fitness. The colorful, 17,000 sq. ft. gym offers yoga training, Pilates classes, indoor cycling and climbing, kickboxing, personal training and massage therapy. It is joined by a bike shop and café, creating a health-centric hot spot between 11th and 12th streets.

Born in Italy, Minissi began his 30 years in Austin with a physics research fellowship at the University of Texas in 1978. Enticed by the idea of entrepreneurship, he started his own successful energy-efficient lighting business, which grew from two to 220 employees during the 15 years he was president. After selling the company in 1996, Minissi traveled, did charity work and taught tech theater at McCallum High School. A couple of years later, he started a rowing club on Lady Bird Lake called Rowing Dock.

In 2002, he noticed a for lease sign at Timberline Fitness, which he frequented. He decided to, as he said, “take a gamble.”

With the intent to create a different type of gym, Minissi retained the majority of employees in order to salvage strong relationships between clientele and staff.

Striving to prevent the daunted reaction many experience when entering a gym, Minissi provides customers with a specialized environment in a smaller nonthreatening setting.

“I wanted to open a gym for people who don’t like going to gyms, like myself,” Minissi said.