For residents wanting to have a 2017 New Year’s resolution to exercise and get fit, working out closer to home might make their goal a reality with the new Redbud Fitness & Lifestyle Center in Buchanan set to debut soon.
The 42,000 square-foot building , which has been under construction at 500 E. Third St. since October of 2015, is owned by Teresa and Bill Green, who had a vision for making a fitness center that was not just a gym, but a community center, where people can enjoy being active and strengthen their physical and mental well being.
The plan is to have construction complete in early 2017, Teresa said.
The couple owns the Buchanan based BG Construction. Their construction company is building the new fitness center. The Greens are financially supporting the cost, which they have estimated that will total more than $3 million.
“It started out as a want for myself,” Teresa said about choosing the Buchanan area as a place for the fitness center.
Teresa said, she would always have to go to different gyms to find a place to work out and she wanted to change that.
Teresa is a life-long Buchanan resident who has long had a passion for being active. Teresa is also a certified yoga instructor and said she finds there are many benefits to yoga, including finding balance in life through the exercise. The new fitness center will offer a variety of yoga classes, taught by certified instructors.
Teresa currently teaches at The Studio/Redbud Fitness & Lifestyle, which is a 3,200 square foot studio space at 117 N. Redbud Trail, where a number of group fitness classes are available, including zumba with the lights off.
Teresa said this makes the atmosphere feel more like a dance club, rather than a place where participants are exercising. The aspect of fun engaging exercise is a foundation that will carry over to the new facility.
“There is a lot of fear in coming into a gym,” Teresa said.
Through classes that will create an encouraging and accepting environment, Teresa said she hopes to appeal to people who may have previously felt discouraged from using the gym.
The fitness center will also have an array of amenities aimed at making exercising a fun and even relaxing experience, where people can forge friendships or learn a new skill. Teresa said their aim was to make the fitness center more like a community center.

When complete, the fitness center will have two floors. On the bottom floor there will be a warm water therapy pool, lap pool, hot tub and cold tub. Teresa also said the fitness center will include a medical clinic, where people can see a general physician, have physical therapy services as well as life coach services, nutritional services and potentially a rehabilitation clinic as well. She said they are still in the process of identifying health care providers to fulfill this need.
The second floor will include an indoor track and four rooms for classes. Teresa said that the fitness center will offer zumba, yoga, spin classes and one room will act as a multi-purpose and flexible exercise room.
The facility will also include two indoor pickleball courts a sauna and steam room and an area for free weights and a day care center. Outside there will be eight pickleball courts.
City Manager Bill Marx said the community needs more options when it comes to finding a rehabilitation facility.
Marx said he was excited for the many possibilities that the fitness center will bring to residents of Buchanan.
“It is very important to the health of the community,” Marx said. “And it could offer additional options for people in the area to find what they are looking for here in Buchanan.”
Additionally, Marx said it would be another facility that brings activity near the midtown area of Buchanan.
Teresa said the center would give people in the community a tool to remain healthy.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Teresa said. “If we could get people feeling better as a community it is better in every way.”