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A revered long time club reinvents itself with a fresh and modern approach

In 2017, Club Meadowvale, a decades-old and well-loved Mississauga, Ontario, fitness club, closed its doors to business. The Hilton Meadowvale, which housed the club, was anxious to find a new operator.
“We needed an organization with a track record and the high standards that would be beneficial for our guests,” says Peter Eriksson, the hotel’s general manager.

While several parties showed interest in assuming the space, Wynn Fitness, then a three-club chain, was the winning organization.

Make it work for everyone
From the start, Wynn Fitness and Hilton understood that their relationship would be mutually beneficial: guests at the Hilton would use the club free of charge while Wynn Fitness members would enjoy the Hilton’s indoor and outdoor pools.

“We don’t have pools at our other locations, so this was a huge selling feature,” says Wynn Fitness CEO Markus Lanz.

When conversations between the two organizations began, several key questions arose:
• How would they revive the 1980s facility that had seen no upgrades for a decade?
• How would they provide continuous club access to Hilton guests during the renovation process?
• What would be done with the tennis courts and large bubble that covered them?
• How would they entice former club members to return to the redesigned club?

Creative solutions create happy customers
Plans began to take shape when club consultant and broker Paula Comfort, of Toronto’s 360impact Group, introduced Eriksson to Aaron Sawatsky, owner of St. Jude’s Academy, a nearby private school. Sawatsky had been searching for a spacious gymnasium and sports facility for his growing student body of over 500 students.

The three organizations’ visions quickly aligned, and plans were made to incorporate a multi-purpose gymnasium into the club design and to give St. Jude’s Academy exclusive access to the tennis courts and bubble for their sports activities and camps.

Demolition and construction began in mid-2018, and approximately one year later the 21,000 sq. ft. facility was revealed at a pre-sales launch and barbecue. The response was overwhelmingly positive with over 300 founding members signing on.

To keep the club in operation during the renovation period, a temporary 3,000 sq. ft. workout space was created onsite for Hilton guests and the founding members.

The right people, design, equipment and technology
At Comfort’s recommendation, interior designer Julie Chapman, who has worked on several high-end club design projects, joined the team to spearhead the design.
Lastly, the team made designs about the exercise equipment strategy. Other Wynn Fitness clubs had a mix of various brands, but with the increasing number and complexity of apps and technology the team decided to go with Technogym as a single supplier.

The club is outfitted solely with Technogym equipment, a full digital journey package with a custom app, as well as its Team Beats and Group Cycle programs.

The club also acts as a showroom for Technogym showcasing its Pure Strength, Selection 900 with Unity Mini, entire Skill line, GC bikes, Excite Cardio series with Unity 3.0, and Omnia 3 wall mount.
This large range and high quality of equipment creates a modern and seamless fitness experience for members and allows them to easily track their results and achievements on their cell phones. For example, in cycling classes a leaderboard tracks rider data on a giant screen; the strength equipment counts reps, weights and exercise data; and in group training on-screen avatars relay continuous member data via heart-rate monitors.

How successful is the new facility? Today the thoughtfully redesigned club buzzes with a healthy mix of longtime original Club Meadowvale members, corporate members, impressed hotel guests and lots of high-energy students from St. Jude’s Academy.