Dakota Wesleyan University has announced it will partner with GreatLIFE Malaska Golf & Fitness Club for management of the Donna and Paul Christen Community Health and Fitness Center within the DWU/Avera Sports and Wellness Complex, set to open after the new year.
Officials broke ground on the sports and wellness complex a year ago and will celebrate its grand opening with a dedication ceremony planned for Feb. 4. GreatLIFE will manage the 4,000-square-foot community health and fitness center within the complex by handling all staffing needs, and personal training services, as well as marketing and membership sales.
“We are excited by this new partnership with GreatLIFE and the level of excellence they will bring to our wellness facility,” said Dr. Amy Novak, DWU president. “Partnerships are exactly how this new wellness complex came to fruition, and it is how we will ensure its success.”
GreatLIFE will lease the wellness space from the university. Community members will have the opportunity to purchase a variety of different membership levels. GreatLIFE members receive unlimited access to its fitness centers and golf courses, based on membership level, and it currently manages and/or partners with 11 fitness centers and 21 golf courses at 19 locations within three states. Twelve of these locations are within Eastern South Dakota.
“We are excited and honored to be partnering with such a quality program as DWU in providing world-class fitness equipment, programs, personal training and golf, with Wild Oak Golf Course, in fulfilling our GreatLIFE mission to enrich the lives of families and individuals through golf, fitness and healthy lifestyles,” said Tom Walsh Sr., GreatLIFE’s chairman/CEO.
Wild Oak Golf Course in Mitchell, and the Avera Queen of Peace Wellness Center are both currently affiliated with GreatLIFE.
“Our fitness center at Avera Queen of Peace has been the local GreatLIFE partner since June of 2014,” said Tom Clark, regional president and CEO of Avera Queen of Peace Hospital. “Avera is excited that the GreatLIFE presence in Mitchell will continue and now grow as part of the new DWU/Avera Sports and Wellness Complex.”
The new DWU/Avera Sports and Wellness Complex will is an 85,000-square foot, one-story facility. The building includes:
- Three indoor multipurpose sport courts
- A 200-meter track
- A wrestling room
- The Donna and Paul Christen Community Health and Fitness Center
- The Glenda and Fitz Corrigan Fieldhouse and Athletic Institute
- Locker rooms for students and for community members