THE GYM at 1 Vichiconti Way opens at 6 a.m. every day of the week. It stays open until 8 p.m. on weekdays and closes at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. A new café in the same building lists hours on three days, Tuesday through Thursday. REED Autism Services runs both, and it has built job training and paid employment for teens and adults with autism into how the Franklin Lakes Community Center operates every day.
What Changed Hands on April 1
On April 1, 2026, REED Autism Services began operating the Community Center under a partnership with the Borough of Franklin Lakes. REED announced the arrangement on March 10. The Borough describes it as a "first-of-its-kind partnership" that reimagined a long-standing gathering place so it would also expand job training and employment for teens and adults with autism.
The plan was specific from the start. REED said jobs in the fitness center, the café and daily building operations would give participants hands-on work experience. That makes the gym, the coffee counter and the building's daily operations workplaces as well as amenities.
Six months after the partnership began, local and state officials joined families and neighbors on Saturday, October 3, for the grand opening. REED's account of the ribbon cutting quotes CEO Chantelle Walker:
"When I look at this building, I see opportunity. A place where teens and adults with autism can build valuable job skills. Where neurodiverse adults can find meaningful, paid employment. And where people of all abilities can come together as part of the same community."
In the same post, Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Zur, a Franklin Lakes resident, called the project a "public-private partnership" that would "create meaningful job opportunities for young people with unique abilities while providing a beautiful place to bring neighbors together." Mayor Charles Kahwaty also spoke. Senator Kristin Corrado, Assemblymembers Lisa Swain and Al Barlas, and members of the Franklin Lakes Council attended.
The Weekly Schedule
The gym, called THE GYM, soft-opened on September 1, ahead of the formal ribbon cutting. Here are the posted hours for the gym and the café:
- THE GYM, Monday through Friday: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- THE GYM, Saturday and Sunday: 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Beans Do Good café, Tuesday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with indoor service and a walk-up window
On weekends, the gym closes at 1 p.m., so anyone planning a Saturday or Sunday workout needs to go in the morning.
REED's gym page describes cardio and strength-training equipment. In March, the partnership announcement said the space would also host small-group training for Franklin Lakes youth recreation participants and group fitness classes. Membership options are listed through the gym page. Anyone deciding whether to join can also stop by on a weekday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to tour the space and meet the team, an invitation the Borough first posted in its late-summer announcement.
The Café Grew Out of a Farm in Hackensack
Beans Do Good builds on a program REED has run for years. Greens Do Good is REED's indoor hydroponic vertical farm in Hackensack. It opened in 2019, and REED says it has given hands-on training and employment to hundreds of teens and adults. The farm sells basil, butterhead lettuce, microgreens, baby kale and baby arugula through wholesale accounts and a weekly Farm Club.
The café uses the same model at a smaller scale, and the customer is a neighbor stopping in for coffee. REED's September 28 announcement said Beans Do Good would serve gourmet coffee, tea, smoothies and light bites, and that an Oritani Charitable Foundation grant helped make it possible. The café's own page offers "coffee, refreshments, and grab-and-go bites, served inside or at our convenient walk-up window."
The café's opening date has shifted. The September announcement planned a public opening in early October. The café page went up on October 6 with posted hours. REED's October 9 recap of the ribbon cutting still called the café "soon-to-open." Check the café page before planning a midweek coffee run around it.
The March plan also called for a café open during regular business hours and on weekends when the nearby athletic fields are in use. The posted Tuesday-through-Thursday hours do not include weekends yet. For families who spend Saturdays at the fields next door, weekend café hours would be the most useful addition.
What Stayed in the Building
Some things did not change. The Franklin Lakes Recreation Department is still based at the Community Center, and the building still hosts nonprofit meetings, social-skills groups and volunteer opportunities for local teens. Dina Robinson, Community Director for Franklin Lakes Recreation & Parks, said in REED's March partnership announcement that the partnership would "continue to make Franklin Lakes a place where community, wellness, and inclusion come together."
The building also houses new space for REED Next, REED's Adult Day Program.
REED credits the Oritani Charitable Foundation, Spectrum Designs, the Columbia Bank Foundation, the Achelis & Bodman Foundation and TD Bank with supporting the work that brought the Community Center to life.
The Borough's page says the Community Center "serves Franklin Lakes residents today." It also notes that an estimated 80 to 85 percent of autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed, and it expresses hope that the center's impact will reach beyond the borough.
Next Door, the Playground Plan for Pulis Avenue
The Community Center shares its site with Pulis Avenue Field, at 1 Vichiconti Way off Pulis Avenue. The Borough also lists the Pulis Avenue Playground on Pulis Avenue. The Patch listing for October 3 billed the day as the "Franklin Lakes Community Center & Playground Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting," with family activities, giveaways, refreshments and tours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The playground plan goes back to a January 2025 public hearing, where the Borough presented its proposal to replace the existing Pulis Avenue playground with an all-inclusive one for children and adults with and without disabilities. The proposal included:
- A location next to the turf field and the Recreation offices
- Fencing and cameras
- A safer entrance
- Funding through a 75 percent matching Jake's Law grant of up to $750,000, with a $250,000 local match
In May 2025, NorthJersey.com reported that the Borough had received the $750,000 grant for an inclusive playground to replace the Pulis Avenue facility. The plans for the playground and the Community Center started separately. Both point toward a single site off Pulis Avenue where people of different abilities share the same spaces, including the turf, the playground, the gym floor and the coffee window.
Before You Go
Is there a weekday window to visit without a membership? Yes. The Borough's announcement invited people to stop by Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to tour the space and meet the team.
Where do current hours and membership details live? On REED's gym page, which links to membership options, and on the café page, which offers email sign-ups for facility updates.
Who handles recreation programs? The Franklin Lakes Recreation Department, which still works out of the building. Our earlier look at how Franklin Lakes' fall calendar runs on two different clocks covers the seasonal events that run alongside it. For more on the borough, see our Franklin Lakes neighborhood guide.
We watch changes like the Community Center's reopening closely because they shape how life on our own streets works week to week. If you're thinking about what your Franklin Lakes home is worth near spots like Pulis Avenue, The Reitz Group can give you a clear, local read. Request Your Instant Home Valuation.
