Folks who take

their workouts seriously have no doubt watched with curiosity as announcements

and rumors abounded concerning the status of Fayetteville health clubs

in recent months.

J.D. and Varner

Holmes, the owners of two other Gold's Gym locations in Fayette County,

announced a couple of months ago that a new location would be coming soon

to the old Wal-Mart shopping center in Fayetteville, next to the current

Hobby Lobby store.

Since that

announcement, World Gym has begun moving into the corner of that same

building, in the space formerly occupied by Winn Dixie.

Gold's Gym

was removed from this month's Planning and Zoning Commission agenda, and

city officials said Wednesday that the proposal had been withdrawn.

But later that

same day, it was announced that Gold's Gym had purchased the Impact Fitness

club across Ga. Highway 85 from where it had planned to locate.

Impact Fitness,

next to Big Lots, was previously known as Fayette Family Fitness until

earlier this year and was actually a Gold's Gym several years ago.

Frequent purchases

and name changes are not uncommon in this industry, and Fayette County

is no exception. The Gold's Gym on Ga. Highway 54, on the eastern edge

of Peachtree City, was formerly Peachtree Fitness before being purchased

The newest

acquisition will now be known as Gold's Gym Fayetteville patrons entering

the facility are now greeted by a giant banner encompassing the front

desk but the current location is not a permanent one.

"Somewhere

between the courthouse and the Fayette Pavilion," J.D. Holmes said

when asked about the future location. "In a high-traffic area."

The move should

take place within the next three to six months. Holmes is looking for

a space between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet, but finding land and putting

up a new building is not out of the question.

Even the original

plan of moving into the old Wal-Mart location is not completely dead,

although World Gym has already nailed down a spot in the other end of

the same building.

Many shopping

centers have multiple restaurants and other kinds of stores, so two fitness

centers at the same place is not necessarily a negative, Holmes reasoned.

Perhaps the

biggest benefit of the Impact Fitness purchase is the acquisition of the

membership roll, which numbers more than 1,000.

Once the new

location is established, making the center a 24-hour facility is under

consideration. One of Holmes' two Peachtree City Gold's Gym locations

on Ga. Highway 74 operates round the clock, due mainly to the high number

of shift workers at the nearby industrial park.

"I'm not

sure that the membership in Fayetteville will support it," he said.

"But we will study it."

During the

interim, Gold's Gym Fayetteville members will benefit with the addition

of new equipment and a brand new look, according to a press statement.

"We are

going to immediately upgrade the tanning beds and cardiovascular equipment,"

said new general manager Selina Gaspard. "We are going to make this

location sparkle while we're here."

Plans for the

next location currently include basketball and racquetball courts, an

outdoor children's playground and other "extras" in addition

to state-of-the-art cardio and resistance training equipment and group

fitness programs.

The current

site offers an extensive strength training area, aerobics, karate and

a large selection of cardio equipment. Child care, tanning and other amenities

are also available. Planet Smoothie also is situated in the 14,000-sq.

ft. fitness center.