Here! I refer you all to Dave Draper's great BB history site...
http://www.davedraper.com/joe-gold-dungeon.htmlI think that Dave says it best regarding the DUNGEON......
"Once upon a time there was a big hole in the ground on top of which sat a five story hotel, 50 tired years old housing grumpy pensioners and a smelly tavern with warped floors. All of this existed just two blocks from the grand palisades of Santa Monica and her majestic blue Pacific.
The hole, or "Dungeon" as it was affectionately called by its then-all male attendees, was the beach-removed site of the Muscle Beach Gym. Two long, steep staircases penetrated the eternal dimness of the gym, illumination coming from 3 strategically located 60 watt bulbs. Too much light and you might see where you were and leave - in a hurry. The concrete floor was cracked and bulging, the walls crumbling and the ceiling 12 feet overhead was sagging, especially where the ground floor bar leaked beerlike brownish ooze. An ankle deep puddle formed near the squat rack each winter and nobody used the shower or toilet except in emergencies. I hated emergencies!
Milk crates, old 2X4's and splintered plywood nailed together by nearsighted musclebound carpenters made up most of the benches and racks. Pulleys and twisted cable from a nearby Venice boatyard, a dozen Olympic bars, bent and rusty, tons of plates scattered throughout the 2500 square foot floor, dumbbells up to 160's that rattled at broken welds added final touches to complete unquestionably the greatest gym in the world.
Here bodybuilding began, embryonic. The original, not the imitation. Here exercises were invented, equipment improvised, muscle shape and size imagined and built, and an authentic atmosphere existed like a primal ooze. You were awash in basics and honesty. I loved it then, the memory more now."