Co-owner Christine Stevens gestures inside
High Rock Sports & Fitness as the gym is
readied for a Jan. 2 opening.

A local gym is being transformed under new ownership just in time for those New Year’s resolutions to kick in.

Clifton Park couple Christine and Chad Stevens have taken over the business at 165 High Rock Ave., aptly named High Rock Sports & Fitness, and plan to open the facility for use on Monday, Jan. 3. An open house will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 2.

“We went one step short of gutting the place,” said Christine Stevens, as workers busied themselves painting the walls and ripping up old flooring inside the two-story, 16,500-square-foot facility recently.

New free weights and cardiovascular equipment will fill the main open area, while aerobics rooms on the second floor will host Les Mills workouts, spin classes and more. Former tanning rooms will be turned around for massage services (which aren’t included in monthly membership fees.) An existing martial arts studio will be replaced with an aerobics room.

The child care room will accommodate children 6 months to 12 years old; the cost per child is $5 for up to 2-1/2 hours.

The Stevens took the business over in November from Rosa and Anthony Parella, who had operated it as Global Fitness since 2005.

For the Stevens, who are both full-time state employees, the gym is their first major business undertaking, although they have run a small embroidery business out of their home for five years.

Christine Stevens, a runner, said opening the gym is twofold — it’s both a business venture and her “road to health and wellness” after she struggled with illness and underwent surgery in recent years.

Her husband, Chad, is a personal trainer who whips police officer recruits into shape as part of his job in Albany.

They have a 10-year lease on the property with co-owner Tom Roohan. A staff of 20 to 25 people will run the gym.

“We’re excited to be putting out something that, hopefully, Saratoga County is really going to enjoy and benefit from,” Christine Stevens said.

Gym hours are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information and membership prices, call 584-5005.