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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Room to stretch

Phil Anderson, left, checks Erin Bancroft into the new 24 Hour Fitness club downtown, Friday afternoon while front desk receptionist, Corinna Lewis looks on. The reception area includes a juice bar and seating area to relax before or after a workout, as well as a store that sells workout clothing and gear. (Kathryn Stevens / The Spokesman-Review)
By Melodie Little melodiel@spokesman.com
Phil Anderson, left, checks Erin Bancroft into the new 24 Hour Fitness club downtown, Friday afternoon while front desk receptionist, Corinna Lewis looks on. The reception area includes a juice bar and seating area to relax before or after a workout, as well as a store that sells workout clothing and gear. (Kathryn Stevens / The Spokesman-Review)

A new downtown fitness club is attracting a healthy crowd of exercisers who squeeze workouts in between deadlines and meetings.

The 24 Hour Fitness gym recently opened in the West 809 building on Main Street, which also will include residential condominiums and a P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.

The 20,000-square-foot facility has upscale touches that include granite tiles in the entry and locker rooms. It also has a café that’s leased and operated by Jeremy and Dana Jeske, owners of Legal Addiction, a coffee stand on 29th Avenue. Local masseuse Rebecca Pearsall also leases space and offers massages.

Oz Fitness Inc., owner of the center, added equipment made by Cybex and Nautilus, with a total of 48 cardio and 52 weight machines.

Michelle Allen, operations manager for the downtown and north Spokane 24 Hour Fitness centers, estimates that half of the downtown gym’s daily usage comes between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Lunchtime classes start a few minutes after the hour, giving people a chance to get there from work, and end leaving enough time to get back to their jobs.

“The instructors understand that these are business people taking their lunch hour to work out,” Allen said.

A corporate program that offers discounts for companies wanting to encourage their employees to exercise currently has 166 businesses enrolled for Oz Fitness’s five facilities in Spokane, Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene.

In the past few years, Oz Fitness built new gyms in Spokane Valley and north Spokane. The company also has plans to rebuild a South Hill property.

The new downtown Spokane facility has a more open design than its previous location on Riverside Avenue.

Ron White, a north Spokane resident, was among the lunchtime exercisers on Friday. He comes to the downtown gym when he’s in the area for meetings. The new facility is an overall improvement over the old place, he said.

“This is bigger and much nicer. It shows me they’re definitely serious about making improvements in the area,” White said.

The fitness center also appeals to longtime member Eileen Woodfill. At 83 years old, the avid exerciser maintains a three-day-a-week workout schedule.

“I like the lockers,” Woodfill said. “There’s a lot more room there and we’re not on top of each other.”