Mouallem Plaza One taking shape

Joe McWilliams

Lakeside Leader

The future home of Champions Health & Fitness is taking shape on the lot next to Boston Pizza in Slave Lake, as pretty much everyone must know by now. What they might not know is how big the resulting building will be, and how it will be unlike what Slave Lake has seen.

That’s what developer and owner Abdul Mouallem tells us.

Not only will the new fitness facility be almost double the size of the current space (in the Lakeland Centre), it will have all kinds of new stuff.

“Two courts,” says Mouallem. “Squash and racquetball, but could be used for other racquet sports, like badminton and pickleball.”

On the second floor will be another 2,000 or so square feet of “studio” space, for such things as spin classes, yoga or other group fitness activities.

At one end of the ground floor will be space for what Mouallem envisions as a “coffee and juice bar.” He hopes to find somebody to lease it to for such a purpose, so it’s a bit up in the air as to what will actually end up in there. One thing it won’t be, Mouallem says, is a burger joint. He doesn’t want greasy smells getting into the gym.

Lots of work to do first. Mouallem says he’s the general contractor, and has been hiring mostly local companies and tradespeople to do the work. Concrete pouring was happening last week; he hopes framing will start as soon as this week.

As the name suggests, more construction is coming. That may depend on how Mouallem Plaza One works out, business-wise, but if it goes well, look for another commercial building, Plaza #2, in the same vicinity, Mouallem says.

Mouallem expects Plaza One to be finished in the spring of 2026.