Ballarat station will get a new lease of life from an unexpected source, with a tenant booked to move into a vacant station building.
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Sweaty AF, a new gym understood to be run by reality TV stars and influencers Ali Oetjen and Taite Radley, will take over the renovated space on the northern side of the station adjacent to platform two, near the new multi-level car park.
As advertised on social media, a leased sticker was placed on the building's sign this week.
Instagram posts from Mr Radley, a personal trainer from Ballarat, and Ms Oetjen say they will pick up the keys on March 1.
Colliers International's David Wright, the leasing agent, said it was exciting for Ballarat.
"Location-wise, it'll serve fitness for commuters," he said - given the imminent opening of the GovHub building and its minimum 600 office workers, another gym option close to public transport and parking could be welcomed.
The heritage site is owned by VicTrack, and $1.25 million was spent in 2014 to renovate the building, which was made available to lease to commercial operators.
"Since then the building was leased to a training provider for a period of time, and from next month a gym will be operating from the building," a VicTrack spokesperson said in a statement.
The building was leased to a previous tenant, a rail training provider, for more than a year from late 2017 - while operating out of the station was not found to be financially viable for that business, it's understood it still has a continuing presence in Ballarat.
The building renovations included reinstating the original portico, external and internal rendering and painting, carpentry, flooring, electrical and other works, paid for by VicTrack and the state government.
The building was vacant for three years before the training provider moved in.
The news comes as work continues on revitalising the broader station precinct - a new free multi-level commuter car park was opened in February 2019, before work officially began on the new Quest Hotel.
The 77-room hotel is expected to be finished by December 2020.
The historic bluestone Goods Shed will eventually become home to a conference and events centre, as well as retailers, and is already advertising for tenants.
Early works on the historic Goods Shed began in late-2019 with extensive clean up to remove the roof and other materials to bring the building in line with relevant permits and approvals.
The roof is still covered by a tarpaulin as work continues.
A piazza is also planned for the area between the northern part of the station - where the new gym will be - and the Goods Shed.
Plans indicate more car parking, and a road connection from Lydiard Street to the current entrance to the multi-deck car park.
A bus interchange will also be built north of the station, and preliminary works have begun to investigate the site.
This will move buses currently parking on Lydiard Street and Ararat Street, and is a key part of introducing a new bus timetable for the city.
As part of this project, it's understood a set of traffic lights will be installed on Nolan Street to help manage the increase in traffic, particularly buses arriving and departing.
There could be more works at the station building itself to improve accessibility for people with a disability.
There are still only two ways for people to cross from one platform to the other, and access the multi-level car park - a set of stairs over the tracks, or walking around to Lydiard Street and crossing the track at a set of boomgates.
The state government has been hesitant to alter the station to build a lift, due to heritage requirements.
In a statement provided to The Courier last week, a Department of Transport spokesperson said some upgrades had already been completed.
"We've upgraded the Ballarat station to make it more accessible for people of all abilities - with improved access to toilets and the station café, as well as improvements in signage, tactile surface ground indicators and lighting for people with visual impairments," they said.
Outside the station precinct, the Provincial Hotel, which opened in 2018, has brought a new attraction to the area as well as boutique accommodation, while to the north, the North Star Hotel, formerly Seymour's on Lydiard, is expected to open by Easter, according to a social media post.
Sweaty AF and Mr Radley were contacted for comment.
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