PART of an old cinema in Partick is set to become the second Glasgow venue for global fitness phenomenon F45.
Planners are being asked to allow space within premises fronting Rosevale Street to be turned into a gym.
The accommodation involved is over two levels and currently used for storage by the British Heart Foundation charity shop on Dumbarton Road, which is part of the same building.
Functional training community F45 specialises in high-intensity group workouts. Its first Glasgow outlet is in West Campbell Street.
Under the Partick plan, the Rosevale Street side of the building — which is currently the service and goods entrance to the charity shop — would have large windows installed at ground and first floor levels.
A design document submitted with the planning application states that this would break up the facade and “not only allow natural light to flood the new unit but provide glimpses of activity from the street below”.
New light grey render would be applied “to refresh the street and present a clean finish.” There would also be a canopy over the entrance, incorporating the gym’s branding.
The building opened as a cinema in 1920 and was the largest of Glasgow’s back-court style picture houses with the entrance being a long narrow corridor under the Dumbarton Road flats above. After closing in 1965, it was used for bingo and then as a snooker club before being converted for retail.
The design statement explains: “There are four other gym facilities within a one-kilometre radius of the proposed site, but with an increase in student accommodation in the area and the greater consciousness of the need to follow a healthy and active lifestyle, we believe there is a demand for a diverse range of fitness facilities.
“The gym is set up for high intensity workouts within a small group setting, run by one instructor per session. Even at changeover periods, this will still result in the occupancy of the building not exceeding 60 people.”
The facility would be open seven days a week, 6am to 10pm.
The application is pending assessment by Glasgow City planners.
