The owners of Paramount Ltd., a Spokane company that operates a Golds Gym outlet on the South Hill, plan to begin construction next month of a second Golds Gym outlet here, this one on the North Side.


Jeff Penna, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Commercial Grand Realty Inc., of Spokane, says the 23,500-square-foot new building will be constructed on a 1.5-acre parcel near the southwest corner of Nevada Street and Hawthorne Road. The parcel is located just south of the site of a new medical office building thats currently under construction at the corner of the intersection.


The new Golds Gym outlet will occupy about 18,000 square feet of space in the two-story, L-shaped structure. The remaining 5,500 square feet of space in the building will be leased out to retail and office tenants, Penna says. The project will cost about $1.5 million, including the land purchase.


Alethea McCann, who owns Paramount with her husband, Dave, says the couple has established a separate company, along with another Spokane investor, to buy the site and build the new structure. She declined to name the other investor or that company, but said it will lease the building to another new corporation the McCanns own called Golds Gym North, which will operate the new club. The facility is expected to open this fall.


Golds Gym is a widely recognized name in the physical-fitness industry. Golds Gym Enterprises Inc., of Venice, Calif., which granted Paramount a license to operate its outlet at 57th and Regal on the South Hill, has more than 500 gyms nationwide. McCann says Golds Gym North will seek a license for the new club this summer; she doesnt anticipate difficulties obtaining that license.


The new club will include a large weight room; a gymnasium; a mezzanine level that will house office space and cardiovascular equipment such as stationary bicycles, stairclimbers, and rowing machines; a juice bar; a nursery; mens and womens locker rooms; and tanning booths. She says the Golds Gym space also might house a physical therapy business.


McCann says the new outlet will employ about 25 people. The South Hill Golds Gym, which has about 1,500 members, charges about $30 a month for membership. After the North Side club opens, membership will be good at both locations.


Kato Corp., of Spokane, will construct the concrete building, which will have a stucco-like exterior. Richard Cultan, also of Spokane, designed the building.


Paramount opened its current Golds Gym outlet in 1992, and later considered opening a second club in a former Tidymans supermarket at 10th Avenue and Pines Road in the Spokane Valley. McCann says that plan failed to materialize. She says Paramount might consider opening a Valley outlet after the North Side club opens.