Longtime fitness club closing

World Health Edmonton is closing its longtime Jasper Avenue fitness club because the lease has been terminated.

The company said in a letter to members Monday that it had been working with the landlord for months to transfer the lease to Calgary’s International Fitness Holdings, the owner of World Health Calgary, which bought the Edmonton operation this week.

But the landlord’s executive committee rejected the lease transfer agreement, so after 30 years at 10303 Jasper Ave., the facility is being closed Thursday, the company says.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this closure will cause and we very much appreciate your patience and understanding.”

Dues for members who switch to one of the company’s seven other clubs will be frozen for two years, the letter says.

JOBS FOR STAFF

All staff will be offered jobs elsewhere, mainly at the Edmonton City Centre site, which will be upgraded with money that had been earmarked for improving the Jasper Avenue operation, the letter says.

In March, the company’s Sherwood Park club was shut following a dispute with the landlord, affecting more than 1,500 members and about 35 staff.