In the first part of the 20th Century, the large, nearly block-size building on Ballard Avenue and Northwest Vernon Place housed a serious of saloons.

During Prohibition, it became the Dexter-Horton Bank. The vault still remains in the lower levels of the building.

The building served as Ballard's post office during the 1940s. Some Ballard old-timers remember congregating around it to hear news of friends and family fighting overseas.

For the past 30 years this January, the Olympic Athletic Club has called the building home and carried on its tradition as a neighborhood meeting and gathering place.

"The club really has a life of its own," said Jim Riggle, who owns the club along with his wife Debra. "People just like to be here. It's been a great business since the day it opened."

Riggle had heard stories of Snoose Junction from his grandfather, who talked of fishing in the area and dining at a place called Hattie's Hat.

Riggle said he never realized his grandfather's Snoose Junction and Ballard were the same place until he bought the building from the Elks Club in 1980. Hattie's Hat sits right across the street.

He said he did not purchase the building with the intention of turning it into an athletic club, but the building ended up lending itself to that purpose.

The Olympic Athletic Club was the first in the new wave of gyms in the area, Riggle said. It was the right idea at the right time he said.

As occupant of the largest historical building on Ballard Avenue, Riggle said it has been neat to be a part of the rebirth of the area while maintaining the style and feel of old Ballard.

When he purchased the building, the windows were boarded up as a remnant of Prohibition's blue laws and the building was an ugly duckling, now it is beautiful again, he said.

"It has a unique spot in the city's history," Riggle said. "We're just lucky enough to be a part of it."

Mark Durall, general manager of the Olympic Athletic Club, said the Riggles are invested in preserving what makes old Ballard unique.

They had an opportunity to demolish a building across the street that Jim Riggle owns, but he decided to preserve and remodel the building despite the higher cost, Durall said.

Durall said it is the interior preservation of the historical building that has given the Olympic Athletic Club some of its enduring success.

The club does not look like the modern big-box gyms, he said. He said people, especially women, feel like they are working out in a fishbowl in other gyms. In the Olympic Athletic Club's smaller rooms, they are not on display.

"There's always a place in the club where people feel comfortable, where they feel at home," Durall said.

Fremont resident Debbie Mitchell, a member of the club since July, said the size of the venue and the use of its space makes it attractive to her.

"There's something for everyone here," she said.

In addition, the Olympic Athletic Club has maintained the community-centric feel that has kept the building a gathering place for more than 100 years, Durall said.

He said the club is multigenerational – everyone from children to seniors uses it.

"We have people who learned how to swim here, and now their children are learning how to swim here," he said.

Some of the members have been with the Olympic Club for all of its 30 years, and some of the employees have been there for two decades, Durall said.

He said the club stays involved in the community through charities and school auctions.

This year's holiday giving tree was more successful than he could have anticipated, requiring two trips to haul away all the donated gifts, he said.

"Ever year, I'm just blown away by how giving and thoughtful our members are," Durall said.

Erika Graef has been a member of the club for more than fours years and an employee there for the past two years. She said the fact that it is a local, family-owned business is really important to Ballard residents.

Riggle said the three-decades-old club will not be resting on its laurels in the coming years.

"When we opened, I never thought we would be open 30 years later," he said. "It has a life bigger than me. I'm so excited to be able to take it one step further."

Riggle said he hopes to start on the expansion of the Olympic Athletic Club, a plan that has been in the works for a number of years but delayed because of financing, in the coming year or two.

The plan is for the Olympic Athletic Club to open a four-story, 29-room boutique hotel, Ballard's first, next door. The hotel would include retail space, a restaurant and underground parking. It would also include expanding the athletic club space by 15,000 square feet.

The plan has received positive reactions from the city and Ballard residents and will get underway as soon as financing is secured, Riggle said.

"Whether this year or next year, it will be built," he said. "We've been here 30 years, and I'm not going anywhere."