TEMPLE TERRACE — The new fitness center within Temple Terrace Family Recreation Center is a spacious room flooded with natural light, quite a change from what Leisure Services Director Karl Langefeld called the "dungeon'' look of the basketball gym it replaced.

"It's a big improvement, especially the visibility and the space,'' said Dana Carver, Temple Terrace's retired urban forester, during a recent mid-morning workout.

"There are so many different machines here and it's so spread out that it's rare that you actually have to stand in line."

The airy new room — with workout equipment and weights on the main floor and treadmills on an upper deck — opened Nov. 19 as part of a $2.6 million renovation of the recreation center.

Other improvements include expanding the gymnastics room and adding windows so that more parents can watch.

A drive and roundabout is under construction behind the center; it will eliminate the congestion in the front of the building now as parents pick up their children after activities. The entire job is expected to be finished by spring.

The old fitness room, which one customer estimated to be a third of the size of the new one, was in the back of the building. Both the new fitness room and a walled off dance studio, aerobics and yoga room have taken over the old basketball court.

"There were no windows here before. It was all solid block. And it was dark and it was dingy,'' said Langefeld.

The dance studio has a floor-to-ceiling moveable wall in the middle, which slides out. It's a solid wall with a door in it, Langefeld said.

Langefeld said he's noticed a jump in attendance of 30 to 40 people per day since the new center opened.

To show off the new center, the city is putting on a "Fitness First'' campaign Jan. 14-18 by offering free classes for adult members and their guests.

For more information, visit templeterrace.com and click on "Government," then, under "Departments," go to "Parks & Recreation."

Contact Philip Morgan at pmorgan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3435.