Famed Wheeling gymnastics academy relocating to Palatine

The American Academy of Gymnastics, a longtime breeding ground for the area’s most elite gymnasts, will be closing its doors after more than 25 years in Wheeling and relocating to Palatine.

“We have the opportunity to move into a space where the gym will increase twofold in size and have state-of-the-art equipment,” CEO and manager Kurt Waller of Palatine said. “The coaching reputation (in Wheeling) is second-to-none, but the facility has become rundown.”

The Palatine council on Monday unanimously approved the academy’s proposal to move into the former Brunswick bowling alley building at 519 Consumers Ave., just north of Northwest Highway.

The move likely won’t happen until 2013 due largely to the amount of work that needs to be done to the facility, including raising the ceiling height to make room for high-flying routines on uneven bars and other tumbling. Waller isn’t yet sure when the Wheeling location will close, though he hopes there won’t be an interruption in service.

The academy, which opened in 1973 in Des Plaines before moving to Wheeling in 1985, will take up about 18,000 square feet. Its operators envision leasing the remaining 12,000 square feet to another company’s cheerleading or volleyball teams. It will continue to offer a variety of dance classes, including ballroom.

Officials had questions about parking given the gym’s capacity is 623 people and the academy enrolls 750 students during its peak seasons. But Waller’s partner, Rob Brown, who operates other locations in Batavia and Plainfield, said the Palatine building has a higher parking ratio of spaces to 1,000 square feet than the other facilities, and it’s never been an issue.

“This will bring out literally hundreds of families to this area that will drop off (their kids) to go shop in local stores, so I think it’s a big draw,” Brown said.

Among the gymnasts to credit the American Academy of Gymnastics for their success is MaryAnne Kelley Elzen, a 1998 Fremd High School graduate who won three all-around state titles and had the first perfect 10 in IHSA history on vault in 1996 and floor exercise in 1998. The academy’s owners say its graduates have been awarded more than $4 million total in college scholarships.