A former Austintown bowling Alley has become the largest gym in the Mahoning Valley.

Before being redeveloped, The historic building near Wedgewood Plaza sat vacant for a few years. Now, the owner is giving the building new life.

The building was once Wedgewood Lanes, and now Body Shop Total Fitness.

“It was just a big, abandoned building, and to put something like this in here. It's just nice for the whole community,” said Mike Stanec, owner of Body Shop Total Fitness.

Stanec saw redeveloping the vacant building as an opportunity to bring businesses to the area. Six different storefronts are being leased out next to the fitness center.

The move was also an opportunity to expand the business.

“I've been working out of the original body shop since 1992, over 30 years, and we've kind of maxed with our size over there so I was looking for a different place. I didn't want to move far from the area, and the opportunity here came up, and it was a great hit,” said Stanec.

Body Shop Total Fitness is around 30,000 square feet, which is over four times the size of the gym's previous location. The previous location was around 7,000 square feet.

Stanec said the expansion allowed the center to be a “one-stop-shop” for the community’s fitness needs.

“We just have a combination of everything. You know, some gyms have one specialty area. We kind of put it all together so it's a full package,” said Stanec.

The gym offers more than just a full-service weight room. It also has a basketball court and a hot yoga studio.

“At the gym side, we have lots of free weights, we have AstroTurf. We have classes for yoga and a sauna. And on the basketball side, we have pickleball, basketball, volleyball. We'll be doing youth leagues,” said Stanec.

The historic building was once a movie theater, bowling alley and several nightclubs.

 

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