BLAINE, Minn. – (March 2, 2017) – The revitalized Oak Park Plaza in Blaine officially welcomed another new business this week. Even though they opened in early January Anytime Fitness held their grand opening and ribbon cutting on March 1.
“We just saw a need up here in Blaine. Their was a unique corner here that was really underserved and this strip mall was really rundown. We looked at it and looked at the community and said this is the perfect place if someone comes in and redoes this center and we got in touch with the landlord and when we found out they were getting ready to revamp this center we said we’re in, said Anytime Fitness developer David Kraai.
City officials hope that this is not the last ribbon cutting in the renovated strip mall.
“The new Cub store and the Anytime Fitness and the liquor store, their is still more pieces to come into it,” said Blaine Mayor Tom Ryan.
With much development happening in east Blaine over the last several years the council has put a renewed focus on the University Ave. corridor which is welcomed news to people who live in the area.
“It’s great, I think we’ve forgot about this side of town for a long time, way to long,” said Mayor Ryan.
Anytime Fitness has had a good first couple of months and is eager to become part of the surrounding community.
“The thing that means the most to me is we have people from the community coming in and just responding really well. They love the facility, they are really connecting with teh staff and we’ve already had some really great success stories here actually so it’s been fantastic,” said Kraai.
New housing is also going in along University near 109th Ave. The city recently purchased the old Gas for Less property and will clean up the site to prepare it for redevelopment. And, they continue to work to find the right development project for the former K-Mart site near Northtown.
