City of Waupaca owns School Street building
By Angie Landsverk
Health and Fitness Headquarters will close its School Street location in May.
Sustainability is the main reason the decision was made to close it, Randy O’Connell said.
“Many efforts were made over the last year to keep this second location accessible to our members but it proves to not be viable moving forward,” he wrote in a letter to members.
O’Connell has been with Health and Fitness Headquarters since it opened in 1998.
He was general manager for about the last 12 years.
On Friday, Feb. 28, O’Connell is taking over as the owner.
He said the equipment will be incorporated into the State Highway 22 location.
Members received the letter from O’Connell last week.
City Administrator Aaron Jenson also shared the news with the common council during its Feb. 19 meeting.
He told the Waupaca County Post the city received word in mid-December there may be changes in the near future with the School Street location.
Rick Johnson, the previous owner, passed away last November.
The city owns the 415 School St. building.
In 2013, Johnson provided the city with about $235,000 for the building’s purchase from the Waupaca School District.
It was the former site of the Waupaca Accelerated Learning Center.
Johnson then leased the building from the city for $3,000 per month for five years.
There was an option to revisit the lease at the end of the term.
Johnson also covered the cost of remodeling the interior of the building and paid the city $1,000 per month for a period of two years.
Those funds were designated for any exterior maintenance costs.
He also paid the city an additional $1,000 per month for that same two-year period, with those funds used at the discretion of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
The current lease agreement between the city and Health and Fitness Headquarters was entered into in May 2018 and runs through the end of the year, Jenson said.
Under that agreement, Health and Fitness Headquarters is paying the city $2,500 per month to lease the property.
Those terms will be carried out through the entirety of the agreement, expiring after Dec. 31, Jenson said.
When asked if there has been discussion about potential uses for the site, he said. “At this time, a specific future use for that location has not been decided. Staff will continue to work with elected officials to determine a direction that best serves the city and its residents.”