Lido gym takes over old ATP site

The gym at the Palmerston North City Council-owned Lido Aquatic Centre has added another fitness centre to its workout pool.

Community Leisure Management Fitness bought the ATP fitness centre, located on Chatham Lane near the Cloverlea Tavern site, this month.

Community Leisure Management Fitness facility manager Lynden Noakes said their gym now had so many members they needed to expand, and the new Highbury site gave them more space and options.

Noakes said they initially talked to the council about adding more space to the Park Rd building but that did not prove practical.

They had been looking for a new facility for about five years, he said.

A few classes were already being offered at the former ATP centre, but more would be added after the official reopening day on September 30.

The gym, previously owned by Pele Aumua, was another ‘‘string in the bow’’ for Community Leisure, Noakes said.

‘‘Before this we haven’t had an indoor area to do boxfit or any other kind of high-intensity workouts in.’’

The Lido gym was next to the pools, so the heat and humidity had meant they couldn’t comfortably offer high-intensity workout classes there.

Noakes said Aumua had built up a loyal membership, and the new management aimed to make the transition easy for them.

‘‘A couple of the instructors will come over with the gym, and keep running their classes, but we’ll bring over a few of our staff as well.’’

ATP members who wanted to transfer over to Community Leisure would also get a discount on membership fees, he said.