Huddersfield’s biggest gym will be “spectacular” when it’s completed, says the businessman behind the £4 million investment.

BigBox Leisure Club is being created out of the old former Total Fitness gym on the Tandem Industrial Estate at Waterloo and will be 60,000 sq ft.

Total Fitness first opened in 1999 and had 11,000 members at its peak. It’s been much missed since it failed to re-open after the pandemic and there’s a real buzz surrounding BigBox’s plans to bring the gym back.

The vandal-hit building has been stripped out inside and work is well underway on the fit out.

The driving force behind the gym, Huddersfield businessman Jamie Lyne, a well-known figure in the leisure and hospitality industry, said the aim was to open early in 2024, sooner if possible.

Casting his eyes around the work in progress, Jamie, 48, said: “It’ll be worth the wait – and it will look spectacular.”

The old gym had been repeatedly broken into and was badly damaged inside but it’s all being brought back.

The 25-metre eight lane swimming pool is seeing the biggest investment but Jamie says it’s worth every penny.

There will also be a spa pool, sauna and steam room as the ‘wet area’ soaks up around half the £3 million construction costs.

The gym will have full disabled access with toilet and shower facilities and a new lift is being installed at a cost of around £40,000.

There will be a main gym, a ladies-only gym, a supervised teen gym and high-standard changing areas including a family changing area.

Jamie Lyne checks on the progress of work on the swimming pool

There will be a bouldering wall and climbing facility where the old squash courts used to be, along with two party rooms.

There’ll be a spinning room, boot camp studio, a boxercise facility and two physio rooms. There will also be a quieter area for such as pilates and yoga.

BigBox will also operate its own cafe bar which will have a fully operational kitchen.

As part of the build up to pre-sales, BigBox has just launched a competition to win the coveted membership No1 which comes with free membership for the first three months.

For more details register on the BigBox website HERE. Follow Big Box on social media – search BigBox Huddersfield on Facebook or @bigboxhuddersfield on Instagram

Big Box Leisure Club to open in former Total Fitness gym creating around 50 new jobs