Physical therapy in Brookhaven has a new look and is breakingnew ground with the construction of a larger, more elaboratefacility on Highway 51.

Richard Barker, chief executive officer and part-owner of theHuman Performance Company (HPC), said the new facility will allowthe business to focus more on merging the fields of physicaltherapy and general fitness.

“We’ve merged the healthcare with fitness to offer a truewellness package. Therapy is our business, but because therapy isour business, it also makes us one of the best fitness and wellnessproviders around,” Barker said. “It’s a natural fit.”

It may be natural, but it’s also unique.

HPC began incorporating the two concepts years ago at therequest of some of their therapy customers, Barker said. Patientswould complete their therapy program and request permission tocontinue to use the facilities on their own.

As fitness became more important nationwide, those requestsbegan to escalate.

“That was amazing to us,” he said. “You don’t find that in a lotof places.”

The company was founded in 1971 as Brookhaven RehabilitationClinic by Barker’s father-in-law, Bobby Bolton, and was locatedbehind King’s Daughters Medical Center for years. In 1999, thecompany moved to its present 5,000 square foot location near theintersection of Highway 51 and Brookway Boulevard.

The increased visibility boosted their business twofold, Barkersaid. The business rapidly outgrew its larger building because ofthe increased visibility and the increase in patients with thedesire to continue their fitness programs after release fromtherapy, prompting the need for an even larger facility.

The new 15,000 square foot facility will allow the company toput more emphasis on both markets, Barker said, merging them intoone health-oriented field.

The additional space of the new facility has allowed the companyto expand its Brookhaven operations. Not only will it house moreequipment than the old location, but they’ve added a heated therapypool, saunas, showers, therapy rooms and more state-of-the-arttherapy equipment.

The 25-meter, three-lane heated pool is kept slightly warmerthan pools found elsewhere, he said, because it will often be usedin therapy programs. It will also be available for simple pleasure,swimming lessons and athletic training.

“There won’t be a better equipped facility anywhere,” Barkersaid.

Construction on the building is continuing, he said, but theyplan to have it ready for open house festivities July 11 and 12.The company will open the building to the public Friday, July 11,from 3-7 p.m. and Saturday, July 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inpreparation for their official opening July 14.

The new facility, which cost around $1 million to build, alsoleaves some room for future expansion.

“We put as much facility as we could on that lot,” Barker said.”There are some places for future expansion, but I want to see whathappens with this first.”

The company will retain the old location for more specializedservice, Barker said.

“It will be part of the company for sure,” he said. “We’re goingto renovate that space and move our sports medicine and otherspecialized physicians in there.”

Many of the specialized physicians are still to come, he said.Plans are under way to recruit doctors who specialize in arthritisand rheumatology, among others.

The old location will also be used for the company’s drug andindustrial pre-employment testing and for their diabetes educationprogram.