Weber Leisure Center — Attraction in Niles Township

Unfortunately I can only give this gym 2-stars because of the way this gym is run. The Weber Center Fitness First facillity is a really clean and up-to-date gym that has all of the equipment you would need for a full workout routine. However- the gym is public/park owned which means that the staff there are all city park district employees (retired or close to retired city workers) who do not actually have any sports or exercise training, and have no reason to treat members as customers. They have city funding and don't care about your membership. The staff can be very aggressive with telling you what to do in the gym and actively walk around the gym floor watching. Some examples:

I have seen people get "warnings" for running "too hard" on the treadmills; also "lifting too much" or "slamming" when the weights make noise by re-racking them or clank when they touch a surface. Even when being put away. The weights aren't being slammed but making ANY noise will cause a staff member to confront you.

The floor is reinforced for weight training (hard rubber) but people are not allowed to do deadlifts, cleans, rows, hip thrusts, or other floor exercises where a weight will touch the floor. A staff member will confront people if they see it.

Even on the weight machines, if the stack makes even a small slapping sound as you put it down, staff members will run up and accuse you of "slamming."

I give 2-stars because the Weber Center has a comprehensive and clean weight area, cardio area, and a small fitness studio in the back. There are plenty of weight racks and weight-stack machines. However, having said that, this is not a real "gym" in the way that an LA Fitness or XSport would be. The staff runs it more strictly and worse than a stereotypical Planet Fitness. I would only recommend if you just want a place to maybe have an easy jog on a treadmill and do some quiet bicep curls in the mirror- if you want more then go to a more...

We recently enrolled my son in basketball with the Skokie Park District at the Weber Leisure Center, which is scheduled for Sundays from 1:30 to 4:00 PM, starting January 12th and running through March 16th. We completed the enrollment in November. However, when we arrived on January 12, the staff at the facility seemed unaware of our registration. I found an email from a coach introducing himself and mentioning that the first game is on January 26th. However, it was unclear whether practices would start on a Tuesday or Thursday, as no specific date was provided. To clarify, I called the coach, only to be met with an unprofessional response. He questioned my ability to read, implying that I was illiterate, and claimed I should have received an email from A. Kasper with all the necessary information. He also mentioned that it was his birthday and that I was disturbing him on a Sunday. He stated that he is not getting paid for this and it is a SUNDAY. I have never felt so belittled in my life. I then contacted the Weber Leisure Center to find out who I could speak with and was transferred to A. Kasper. I left a voicemail on Sunday and called again on Monday to discuss my experience but only got to leave a voicemail. On Tuesday, I sent an email requesting to move my son to a Tuesday practice, as Thursday conflicts with his school sports. I also left four additional voicemails trying to reach someone, but no one has returned my calls. This entire situation is incredibly frustrating. If this so-called coach feels comfortable calling me illiterate, what must he be saying to the children...

Steve and other staff here were rude to me on multiple occasions. Anytime I would try to play basketball, he would say the courts are closing for scheduled pickleball games. So one day I stayed longer to see if anyone even showed up to play and they did not for over one hour and a half. They will shut down the court and rather have it sit empty than to let you shoot around. In my opinion people who want to play pickleball should just learn tennis instead of inventing an identical sport just to occupy the bball gymnasium. I don’t know of any kid who dreams of becoming a pickleball player. We all love basketball and we just...