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CASSOPOLIS — A new business will allow Cassopolis area residents to pursue and achieve their fitness goals from the comfort of their own community.

The Cassopolis Fitness Center, 804 E. State St., opened its doors to the Cassopolis community Tuesday morning for in-house membership signups. The 24-hour gym, owned by Cassopolis native and Ross Beatty grad Austin Los, will offer free weights, cardio equipment, tanning beds and more.

The gym will be open for signups from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday until its grand opening on Monday, March 27, when members will be able to begin using their memberships with 24-hour access. 

“We just want to get people out there,” he said. “They can come in, walk around and look at the facility. They can’t work out just yet, but they can sign up ahead of our March 27 grand opening.”

Los, who works in Centreville, noticed the success a small strip mall gym was having and thought that success could be applied to his hometown. 

“Things kind of started snowballing from there after I found a spot that I liked,” Los said. “I realized that a strip mall gym can be successful in a smaller town.”

After doing some research, Los found vacant space in the strip mall on East State Street in October and has spent the past five months preparing to open. The space also allows Los to expand the property if need be.

“It’s been longer than I had anticipated,” he said. “A lot of renovations. This was an old laundromat, so we had to put in new plumbing, electrical and everything. It’s looking great now.”

Since creating the Cassopolis Fitness Center Facebook page Sunday, more than 320 people have followed it. His announcement post has received more than 130 likes and more than 170 shares.

“I’m seeing all the comments on the page saying it’s something the community has needed for a long time,” he said. “Between having the only gym and having the only tanning beds in town, I’m hoping the community really enjoys it and that we get a good response from everybody. It seems like everybody thinks its much-needed in the town.”

With the grand opening less than two weeks away, Los is excited to contribute to Cassopolis’ positive momentum.

“I feel like Cass is on the positive upswing as of late,” Being born and raised in Cass, it’s nice to see money being put into it that’s turning it into a nicer place. The ultimate goal is you want to have a bunch of amenities that bring more people into the community. Just having the ability to contribute to that is pretty cool. I work full-time in the RV industry; I started this as a side-gig but I quickly realized that it’s going to mean a lot to a lot of people.”

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