After A Long Closure, The CKO Kickboxing On Walnut Bites The Dust
Closed since the summer due to a fire in the nearby parking garage, the gym is not coming back.
When CKO Kickboxing Center City closed down during the summer at The Icon located at 1616 Walnut Street, everyone was hoping for its return. This location was considered to be pretty good, with a 4.5 rating on Yelp, despite some reviews mentioning outdated equipment and a possible roach issue (yikes!). However, we’ve heard from a reliable source that a commercial broker has been quietly shopping the space around to find another fitness tenant, and it’s been confirmed: CKO will not be returning to the location.
This summer the garage off Chancellor at 1616 Walnut had a truck caught on fire around 2 a.m. on a Saturday, and spread to a nearby car. The resulting amount of water required to put out the fire, we heard, destroyed a very large portion of the building walls at the back, the area of the garage where the fire happened. Unfortunately, all the water cascaded into the back basement where CKO was. (For reference, CoreYoga is located towards the front of the basement).
Then we’re not sure what happened officially but unofficially, we heard there was some disagreement between that CKO franchise and The Icon about who was financially responsible for the repairs. And that the CKO said “Peace, we’re out” back in September. (Our words, not theirs – we’re just imagining a lively conversation).
So sadly, this CKO kickboxing location is no more. Their Instagram is pointing to the new Northern Liberties gym that opened up this year, and there is also one in South Philly.
If you really want to do kickboxing, here are some options in the area, listed in alphabetical order:
