Fitness club set to open at former YMCA building

The former YMCA building is again becoming a hub of activity downtown. Last week, a temporary emergency shelter moved into the vacant facility. On Wednesday, a fitness club will open for business under private ownership.

For six decades, the YMCA was the centre for fitness in downtown Regina. It closed two years ago.

Rod Flahr, director of fitness, said the new fitness area will have something for any type of athlete.

“Clinical exercise, physiologist, physiotherapist, myself, my high end trainers for my elite athletes or the amateur athlete. You get everything here with the most educational experience you are going to find that I know of in Saskatchewan and I’ve been doing this for 33 years,” he said.

New members were invited to stop by the revamped facility for a pre-opening tour. Brayden Fox occasionally worked out here when it was the YMCA.

“[It’s] sad, I guess, to see it kind of kind sitting empty for the last year or two that the Y wasn’t around so it’s nice to see some energy and it being put back to use and what The Nest is trying to do, it’s super cool,” he said.

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For the next three months, The Nest will work side by side with Regina’s temporary emergency shelter.

Once that facility is decommissioned, the gym and swimming pools will be revamped. Then construction can begin on medical offices, diagnostic services, a 24 hour pharmacy, and a day care.

Neha Jain, communications director of The Nest, said the health centre will be run by a group of physicians.

“An initiative and a partnership like this really allows us to alleviate some touch points throughout the healthcare system as a whole,” she said.

This week’s opening of The Nest will be like a homecoming for those who used to go to the YMCA downtown as one of Regina’s longest running fitness locations goes back into operation.