Things may have got off to a slower-than-expected start for a new Planet Fitness gym at a long-vacant former car dealership in the heart of Roxborough's business district, but work is in full swing now.

Because the gym is allowed by-right in that commercial zone, there was no need for the owners of the property at 6225 Ridge Ave., the former Golden Chrysler Plymouth dealership, to seek approval from the city's zoning board. But they did meet with the Central Roxborough Civic Association, and met with adjacent neighbors to discuss some concerns with the plan. The former dealership sat empty and boarded-up for several years, a blank spot on an otherwise bustling stretch of the Ridge Avenue shopping district.