For almost six years, the former Stop & Shop space in the Pawcatuck Shopping Center in Stonington remained vacant.

Former First Selectmen Ed Haberek tried for years to find a tenant and often criticized Stop & Shop, which continues to hold the lease, for being unwilling to lease the space to any business which would sell food.

But for the past few weeks, the 21,000-square-foot space has been buzzing with activity as Mystic resident Bill Kane has opened his newest Renegade Sports location. He said the Pawcatuck location is an example of the next generation of workout facilities using cutting edge equipment and systems found in few, if any, other gyms in the country. He said it has already attracted 1,000 members.

It is also much different, Kane said, than his popular Workout World locations in Groton, New London, Waterford and Norwich.

"It's not just a gym. This whole concept is very, very new to this region," he said during a tour of the facility last week. "This is the evolution of what fitness has become and how to do it properly."

He said it does not matter what a person's fitness level is as his facility is designed to produce results in a fun environment instead of spending long, tedious hours on a treadmill.

The motto "train smarter, not longer" is among the inspirational messages on the walls and equipment throughout the faculty.

"It takes boredom and the tediousness out of coming to the gym every day. Here, you can do something different every day," he said.

Kane said that for years people have had to choose between a "low price-low service" type gym or hire expensive personal trainers.

"The difference here is we're trying to get results for people. We want to make it affordable to get the upper end of service. It shouldn't break the bank to get quality training," he said.

Basic memberships begin at $10 a month and increase depending on what other classes and services members want to take advantage of. For $39 a month, a Move It membership offers access to functional training group classes such as Escape, TRX and Queenax.

All the classes are designed to accommodate people of all fitness levels.

"You can be a professional athlete or you may have never worked out in your life," he said.

For the those new to working out, there is a line of machines that offer a full body workout in 30 minutes while watching people exercise in the Queenax area, more commonly known as The Cage.

"Its designed to build a habit of fitness for people," he said.

The Cage is where members can engage in functional training using their own body weight and suspension units.

"Its designed to be inspirational," Kane said. "We wanted to make bold statement. If you see other people taking it to the next level and its not threatening, you'll say 'I can do that.' The energy in here when that class and the others are going on is amazing."

The gym has a wide variety of group classes in several large spaces ranging from Zumba, Insanity and Core classes using Pilates to spinning, yoga, and Silver Sneakers classes for seniors.

A large colorful space houses the eight stations for the Escape classes, which use ropes, tires and weighed bags, among other equipment.

The 20-bike spinning room uses a computer program called My Ride and large screen television to compete against other class members and ride courses from around the world such as Tour de France stages.

The entrance to the "cardio cinema" is a marked by a theater marquee and inside the darkened room is a 14-by-8 foot big screen television with banks of treadmills, elliptical machines and exercise bikes.

Some of the systems used in the gym come from Italy, England and Spain. One, the PaviGym, is a room with computerized light system in the wall and floor designed to create a functional workout.

Kane spent almost a year, gutting the dilapidated space, and replacing the roof, electrical service, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning before turning his attention to outfitting the half-acre gym with hundreds of pieces of equipment and individual exercise studios. There are locker rooms, hydro massage machines and tanning beds.

Throughout the gym are inspirational murals and images.

One is by aerobic exercise guru Ken Cooper: "We don't stop exercising because we grow old. We grow old because we stop exercising."

The first thing members see when they walk in is a 12-foot high poster of a woman with a sculpted core working out.

"You're right where you belong," it says.

J.WOJTAS@THEDAY.COM

@JOEWOJTAS