By Robin Wojtanik

The availability of inexpensive fitness options is increasing in the Tri-Cities with the opening of COR Fit in Richland and the new Planet Fitness in Kennewick. Each gym is available to users on a month-to-month basis, with no long-term contracts required.

COR stands for “city of Richland” and is the new name of the expanded facility at the Richland Community Center. The city teamed up with the Richland Senior Association, matching the $1,600 raised for a gym expansion, to invest more than $3,200 into a remodeled space with added equipment.

COR is located where the computer lab and a meeting room once were. By removing a wall, the two rooms were combined into one. While the meeting room was relocated elsewhere in the community center, the computer lab was eliminated altogether. The city felt the availability of computers at the Richland Public Library was sufficient for public use instead.

The gym features two seated stepper machines, which are frequently in use.

Cloyd Bowers, 93, said he uses the seated stepper for about 20 minutes at a time, and hopes to eventually increase his ability to use the other equipment. “I know it’s good for my legs. It gets results because it keeps ’em going,” he said.

Bowers said it’s typical to see four to five people in the fitness room at one time, mostly seniors.

COR Fit has about 100 members and the prices are the same for Richland residents and non-residents. Each person pays $8 a month for use of the facility for a 30-day commitment. The gym is open during the same hours as the Richland Community Center: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Planet Fitness is opening its first Tri-Cities location in the former Value Village site on Columbia Center Boulevard.

The company expected to spend $560,000 on remodeling the building, according to public building records. Pittsburgh-based Flynn Construction Management General Contracting Inc. is the general contractor.

The gym offers the same membership price at all its locations, $10 a month with no yearly commitments. During membership pre-sales prior to the opening, the sign-up fee was $1. General Manager Ty Franzen said the monthly rates are locked in and “will never go up.” Members pay a one-time annual fee of $39 assessed in August.

Franzen said the national chain has been wanting to expand to the Tri-Cities for more than a year but had not found the right location. The nearest Planet Fitness is in Yakima.

The Kennewick Planet Fitness will include 20,000 square feet of space with dozens of cardio equipment machines, free weights, weight resistance machines, locker rooms, massage chairs and tanning beds. Planet Fitness is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is always staffed with at least two employees.

Part of a national chain, Planet Fitness offers two types of memberships, including its basic, no-commitment membership for $10 a month, as well as expanded options.

For about $20 a month, the Black Card program includes use of the tanning machines, four hydromassage chairs and one free guest per day. This membership requires a one-year commitment, charging a $58 fee if canceled early.

Planet Fitness touts itself as a “judgement free zone,” hoping to make a large gym less intimidating to novices. While it doesn’t have a studio for group classes like spinning or Zumba, it does offer 30-minute workouts to small groups, including circuit training.

Planet Fitness: 731 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Ste. 100C, Kennewick; 509-579-0595.

COR Fit: 500 Amon Park Drive, Richland; 509-942-7529.