Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell addressed the crowd last week at the groundbreaking for a new ACAC Fitness & Wellness facility in Richmond. Also at the ceremony were Phil Wendel (left), owner of ACAC, and Greg Wells (right), CEO of ACAC. ©All rights reserved by Governor of Virginia.

ACAC Fitness & Wellness Center, Richmond, VA, broke ground last week on its new health club in West Broad Village in Richmond. ACAC owner Phil Wendel welcomed Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, Henrico County Supervisors David A. Kaechele and Frank J. Thornton, and many West Broad Village neighbors to the ceremony.

In his remarks to the crowd, Gov. McDonnell thanked Wendel for his investment in Virginia, noting that this new club will bring another 150 permanent jobs to the area and provide high-quality health and fitness services.

The new club will cost approximately $16 million. The three-story, 57,000-square-foot facility will have singles and doubles squash courts, an indoor aquatics center with warm water pools, functional training space and three mind/body group exercise studios. In addition, the club’s rooftop will have a heated pool and platform tennis.

In his address, Wendel noted that ACAC has been uniquely successful in building strong relationships with the medical community.

“In the past six years alone, we’ve received over 15,000 physician referrals to our clubs,” Wendel said. “We’ve built a fitness facility with a significantly broader welcome mat. At ACAC, members of all ages and stages of health feel confident and comfortable learning how to exercise.”

The West Broad Village club will be ACAC’s second location in the Richmond area. ACAC currently operates a 100,000-square-foot facility in Midlothian and recently received the 2011 Innovation Impact Award in Chesterfield County’s annual First Choice Business Awards for the success of its physician-referred exercise program.

ACAC has been on Club Industry’s Top 100 Club list for the past 10 years, ranking No. 36 on this year’s list with $32.4 million in 2010 revenue. Last year, ACAC was recognized in the magazine’s Best of the Best contest for its physician referred program. In 2010, the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association presented ACAC owner Phil Wendel with the John McCarthy Industry Visionary of the Year Award for pioneering the development of medical fitness and wellness programs.

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