Lethbridge - After five years of continuous growth, O2 Training Centre is celebrating the opening of its new location. As an anchor tenant in Plaza 601 located on Sixth Street and Fourth Avenue South, the O2 facility will offer programs and services such as kickboxing, personal training, yoga, tanning and nutrition counselling in a facility that is more than twice the size of its previous upstairs space in the same building.

“Staying downtown was important to us in order to effectively serve our clients,” says Justin Tavernini, co-owner and head trainer of O2. “We needed more space and wanted to continue to provide a clean, bright and premium quality gym experience in the city.”

Plaza 601, a redesigned commercial space that will be home to additional retailers as the project progresses, will also offer rustic, modern condos creating living space close to shopping, dining and fitness.

“This revitalization project shows that programs like the Heart of our City Housing Incentive can positively impact the footprint of the downtown core,” adds Mayor Chris Spearman. “I am excited to watch the continued development of the former Bargain Store building into a mix of new residential and commercial space.”

“Currently there are 60 unique retail shops and 50 restaurants and pubs in downtown Lethbridge, many of them locally owned,” says Downtown BRZ Vice-Chair David Foster. “We are already seeing that the downtown business occupancy rate is higher than it has been in the last decade.”

Since a recent Canadian study indicates that independent retailers and restaurants together recirculate more than 2.6 times as much revenue in the local economy as chain competitors, revitalization projects that positively impact local small-business owners also create positive outcomes for the entire community.

“An important element of Economic Development Lethbridge’s mandate is to support business owners with growth and expansion plans,” adds Economic Development Lethbridge CEO Trevor Lewington. “Research suggests that 55 out of 100 new jobs in an economy come from the growth of existing small and medium enterprises so we know this is an important part of the services and support that we offer.”

Members of the media are invited to a free workout challenge from 7:15 - 8 a.m. on Tuesday, December 6, 2016. Put O2’s new facility at 333 6 Street South through its paces before its official opening and see if Mayor Spearman, David Foster and Trevor Lewington are up to the challenge.