VASA Fitness is flexing its muscles again in Colorado Springs.

The Utah-based fitness chain has launched a remodeling of a former Gold’s Gym at 7655 N. Union Blvd., northeast of Union and Briargate boulevards in the north-side Rampart Village Center, where it’s targeting a summer opening for what will be its fourth Springs location.

VASA opened its first Colorado Springs fitness center in 2018 in a former Albertsons grocery at 455 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd. on the south side. It added a second fitness center a year later in a former Kmart at 3020 N. Nevada Ave. in north-central Colorado Springs, and opened a third location last year in another former Kmart at 5885 Palmer Park Blvd., southeast of Palmer Park and Powers boulevards on the east side.

“VASA’s three locations in Colorado Springs are very popular and we believe we can better serve the fitness community in Colorado Springs with a fourth location in the fast-growing north side of town,” Corey Chyr, vice president of construction development for VASA Fitness, said via email in response to Gazette questions about the chain’s expansion.

The former Gold’s Gym at Union and Briargate boulevards was one of three Colorado Springs locations that shuttered in April 2020; at the time, the Dallas-based Gold’s Gym cited financial fallout from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for the closings.

VASA will occupy about 49,000 square feet in the remodeled Gold’s Gym, which will be about the same size as the Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard location, though smaller than VASA’s fitness centers on Nevada Avenue and Powers Boulevard, Chyr said.

Still, the new location, which VASA will lease and that will employ about 50 people, will include all of the chain’s “premium amenities,” such as STUDIO FLOW yoga, STUDIO RED fitness classes, performance lifting and a large cardio deck, he said.

Though it won’t have a pool, VASA’s new location will be the first in company history with a cold plunge tub, Chyr said. It also will be the first in Colorado Springs to feature VASA’s new STUDIO LFT boutique strength training program that recently launched in other parts of Colorado as a pilot program “and has experienced overwhelming success,” he said.

“This new club is located in an area of Colorado Springs that VASA is not yet located in, but where we believe (we) can provide a premium fitness experience for new members to better their physical health and mental well being at an extremely affordable cost,” Chyr said. “The former Gold’s Gym building meets the VASA requirements for size, ceiling height, parking, etc. The majority of the interior will be demolished so that we are able to construct our standard VASA layout.”

VASA has no plans for additional locations beyond its fourth club, Chyr said, “but, because of our popularity in Colorado Springs, we are always on the lookout for great opportunities to expand.”

The fitness industry has gone through several additions and subtractions over the last few years in Colorado Springs.

In addition to the closings of the Gold’s Gyms, California-based 24 Hour Fitness will close its last gym and fitness center at 1892 Southgate Road, in the south-side Broadmoor Towne Center, on Feb. 28.

24 Hour Fitness also closed its facility at 3650 Austin Bluffs Parkway in May 2023 and had shuttered its location at 7720 N. Academy Blvd. in June 2020.

But other fitness chains have expanded their presence in Colorado Springs, including Orangetheory Fitness and Planet Fitness. Other large-footprint fitness centers in the Springs include Villa Sport and Life Time.