01907_Fall_2019

20 | 01907
G Y M
Renovation innovations transform
Burke's Tumbling Academy
For 10 years, Burke's
Tumbling Academy on
Elm Place has been the
place to go for gymnastics
lessons, cheerleading
classes and physical
fitness programs.
You'll hardly recognize
the place these days. Owner Jen (Burke)
and husband Rob DeMagistris have
nearly completed a major expansion that
will double the facility's space to 15,000
square feet, utilizing the space left vacant
when Paradise Gym closed last fall.
Construction began in late winter.
Work was nearly done in mid-August,
just in time for kids returning to their
back-to-school routine. A grand opening
will be held this fall.
Jen and Rob can't wait to show off the
D A N DY
BY BILL BROTHERTON
improvements and additions.
For instance, consider BKids: a minitown
in one large room that resembles
Swampscott where kids can use their
imagination and creativity.
There's a grocery store
with plastic food, there's
a restaurant that serves
make-believe brick-ovenpizza,
a post office where
kids can write and "mail"
letters to Santa or Auntie
Sue, and more.
"It's about child
development," said Rob.
"It's a space where kids can
use their imagination, where
kids can have fun at a music
class or a Lego class while mom is at a
45-minute spin class."
Jen DeMagistris
PHOTOS | SPENSER HASAK
Daniel Angelov, 5, of Boston,
and Ariella Katz, 8, of
Marblehead, take to one of
the trampolines in the gym of
Burke's Tumbling Academy.
Jen envisions monthly programs
where a postman can bring his truck
down and talk about what his or her job
is like, or a doctor can come to the BKids
"hospital" and talk about
bones.
Then there's a
ginormous state-of-the-art
new gymnasium sporting
the most up-to-date
gymnastics equipment. A
few of the young gymnasts
have tried it out and called
it awesome.
The initial BTA space
will be a beehive of
activities as well. BCycle
offers high-energy indoor
spin classes. Kickboxing is offered four
days a week, run by two women who
moved over when Paradise Gym
closed.
Jen, who spent most of her
childhood in Swampscott except
for brief stops in Chicago and
Atlanta, said "It's so important to
me to be in Swampscott. It's all
about family in Swampscott. It's
a special place. Most of my staff
started with me when they were
about 5 years old and now they're
20. They are my family. They
know how we are here. Maddie
Cleary, our cheerleading coach,
moved here from Alabama in the
seventh grade. We did cheering
together."
Rob, who grew up in the
spread-out Massachusetts town
of Westford, agreed. "Swampscott
and Marblehead, generations have
lived in these towns. We were
excited when the opportunity
came to stay in Swampscott and
expand right next door. … We
were worried we wouldn't be able
to find space in Swampscott. We
didn't want to move.
"You walk in here, and there's such
energy. You feel it right away. Everyone
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The Marblehead
Erin Dwan, 6, of Singapore, does a handstand.
here loves what they do," added Rob.
Gymnastics has always been
important to Jen, who as a preschooler
performed in competitions. While in
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high school, armed with one tiny
mat, she taught gymnastics to a
couple of neighborhood kids in
her parents' basement. As a high
school junior, with the blessing
of her parents (Tom and Mary
Burke), she started a summer
gymnastics camp in the backyard
of their house on Parsons Drive.
She had 50 students by summer's
end.
During senior year at
Swampscott High, after applying
to Suffolk University, she steeled
up her courage and told her
parents she wanted to delay
college and open her own gym
business. "I was crying. I told
them, 'I don't want to go to
college. I want to do gymnastics.'
Most parents would say, 'No.
You have to go to college.'
They supported me. My father
said, 'What's the worst that
can happen? You'll fail and can
always go to college later.' But
I think he knew it was going
to be successful." Jen did go to college,
Marian Court, anyway. While she ran
GYM DANDY, page 25
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FALL 2019 | 21
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