Fitness club adds to its suburban lineup

A large family-focused upscale fitness center, featuring basketball courts, spas and cycle theater, opens today in Vernon Hills.

Life Time Athletic club, at 680 Woodlands Parkway, is a three-story fitness facility complete with cherrywood lockers and elegant tile showers.

Chanhassen, Minn.-based Life Time Fitness is expanding the clubs into the suburbs, operating other facilities in Algonquin, Bloomingdale, Skokie, Schaumburg and Warrenville.

The company now has 77 of the fitness clubs across the U.S.

Cafes, indoor and outdoor pools, climbing walls, multi-fitness rooms, yoga and Pilates studios and a gym with more than 400 pieces of cardiovascular and resistance equipment are featured at the clubs. A spa area for hair, nails and skin-care as well as two full-size basketball courts are other highlights at the facility open 24 hours a day. A child-care center features a climbing area, junior basketball court and computer lab as well as separate infant area.

"It's a place for the family to work out together. Dad can take a spin class, Mom can do yoga while the kids can hang out in the child care center. The family can then all go swimming or rock climbing together," said Kent Wipf, public relations manager for Life Time Fitness.

The new Vernon Hills model is only the second to be three stories. The others have two floors. It's ranked as the "athletic brand," or top level club, by the company.

"This club is more exclusive. It's more like a Ritz Carlton than a Marriott," Wipf said.

The cost to join the athletic brand level club is more than the compnay's other facilities.

A membership at the Vernon Hills club is $120 per month, compared to the $59 monthly cost at the Life Time Athletic in Algonquin. The Lake County facility charges $179 a month for a couple wanting to join and $219 for a family membership.

Members join on a month-by-month basis rather than signing up for annual memberships, Wipf said.

The clubs typically employ about 200 full- and part-time employees. The club expects about 8,500 members to join.