Ozark Fitness Center project will be 30,000 square feet

The construction project at Ozark Fitness Center, 1249 E. Battlefield, will add several new amenities for members. Those include a tanning salon, an indoor playground for children, a Hammer Strength equipment area like those used in the National Football League, expanded locker rooms and an expanded wo-men's workout area.

According to owner Dan Martin, a cardio theater also is included in the project, which will bring the center's total square footage to 30,000.

"There will be 45 TVs in the theater area," he said. "A person using the cardio equipment can watch or listen to TV, or listen to the radio via the TV, with or without headphones."

Martin said the Tan Company, a St. Louis-based chain of tanning salons, will have a space inside the fitness center once construction is completed. It will be the first Tan Company location to open in Springfield.

The general contractor for the project is MoDoCo Inc., and the architect is Steve Warlick of Bates & Associates Inc.

The "new" Ozark Fitness Center will be comprised of the current building and the building next to it, which formerly was home to Battlefield Station and suffered a fire in November 2000. When the work is done, the two buildings will be adjoined.

"The building has a really unique design," Dock said. "It's very clean and has nice sharp lines. It will be a very appealing structure. A lot of the building will be glass and steel. The finishes are architectural metal metal that's been preformed to give it a modern, streamlined look."

The site where the building burned has been cleared, and site preparation is now under way.

"We took out the old concrete and soil," Dock said. "We're compacting the new soil for the building pad the new dirt you build on top of."

The next step is adding the structural steel. According to Dock, this phase of the project should be done in three weeks.

Martin said the value of the overall project is $3.5 million. This amount includes the building that suffered fire damage, the land and the equipment.

Dock said a lot of his company's work is negotiated.

"This means we sit down with an architect and a building owner to set up the price and the time frame of the project," he said. "In this case, we worked up the budget as the plans were being done."

Dock said there really isn't anything different about building a fitness center compared with any other type of building.

"The indoor tracks in a fitness center require a little more work because they bank up at the sides," he said. "But that's the only difference."

Martin said he's had the idea of building on to the Battlefield location for a long time.

"The interest in fitness has grown in consistency since the mid-1970s," he said. "It's a world-wide phenomenon."

Martin took the time to research the fitness center market in other cities.

"I visited other fitness center markets and got ideas from them," he said.

The Battlefield location, the oldest Ozark Fitness Center, opened its doors in 1973. At that time, the business was owned by a group of investors. Martin bought the business in 1983. There's also an Ozark Fitness Center location at 2610 N. Glenstone.

Dock said he's known Martin since 1986, when Martin called him to build an Ozark Fitness Center at Sunshine and Glenstone where The Midnight Rodeo now is located. Martin said he chose Dock because "he has a real good reputation, and I trust him. He builds good quality products and is very trustworthy. I enjoy being around him."