In the 1800s the building on 121 E. State St. in Lehi was a hotel. In the early 1900s it was a theater, and in the late 1900s it became a motorcycle shop.

The soft opening for R.A.G.E. is Saturday at 5 a.m. and the grand opening celebration is planned tentatively for August. The center, owned by three partners, will operate Monday through Saturday, 5 a.m. to midnight.

R.A.G.E. will be a center for boxing, mixed martial arts, bodybuilding, boot camps, karate, RADwomen, RADkids, kids fitness camps, body sculpting, sports training, Jazzercise, and Pilates. Patrons can sign up or learn more about training programs at 768-1456.

"It's a dream come true for me," said R.A.G.E. founder and business co-owner Kenny Knight. He started boxing when he was 11 years old.

"I have always had a love for the sport," he said. "I actually started R.A.G.E. in 1995, but I was just doing it with power-lifting competitions, body building competitions and personal training."

He said he has always wanted to have his own gym and be able to offer something to the people and the kids through his R.A.G.E. programs.

"We're nothing to do with steroids, it's all about being clean and being healthy and learning how to take care of your body," he said. "(Kids) learn discipline. One of the things I always teach is we learn how to fight so we don't have to fight, because boxing, or mixed martial arts, build confidence. When you have confidence, you don't have to go out into the world and try and prove that you are something. You just know it and it feels good, you know. You wind up not getting in those altercations."

Built like tanks, his partners Ed Leon and Bob Jones are examples of the results when working with Knight's program.

Jones got involved with R.A.G.E. when his children started taking boxing lessons from Knight. Soon Knight was mentoring the whole family. Then the trainer/instructor began running out of workspace.

"He was starting to get a following and it was getting to be too much just for his basement so he came to me one day and said 'hey, let's put something together,'" Jones said.

Knight appeared energetic and excited during his interview as he rattled off the weights and weight equipment and where each would be placed for patron use -- a leg press, squat racks, bench press, incline press, dumbbells from five to 100, floor benches, leg curl machine, speed bags, heavy bags, double-ended bags.

A certified USA boxing ring and a martial arts cage will command attention in the workout area on the ground floor of the building. Sunken into the gym, the boxing ring is at head height for instructors and coaches.

Momentum for the center began when Knight started a R.A.G.E. boxing team approximately three years ago. About a year later, he and his partners bought the building and seriously began working toward opening R.A.G.E. Boxing and Fitness.

They are looking for more trainers, especially boxing trainers and ju-jitsu instructors. On his team are Amber Drown and Adree Koller as the jazzercise instructors, Kim Spenboauer operates the RAD, "Resist Aggression Defensively," program; Lennie Swensen leads the Pilates program and Ross Lindsey, the karate.

"The great thing that I love about this is what we can do," Knight said. "We are offering so much in one place. We're getting the kids involved. We're having all these things for kids. During the summer time especially, they don't have anything to do. (Now) they've got a place they can go and hit the bags and everything else. Boxing is what got me, helped me get off the street. Helped me do something as a kid so I just wanted to give back."