Gyms prepare to open.
Gyms across Cape Breton prepare to open their doors Friday
SYDNEY — Provincial fitness facilities can reopen this week but the YMCA of Cape Breton will face some challenges.
Staff are preparing to open Friday but facilities on Charlotte Street in Sydney and Membertou might need a little bit longer to get ready for the first day of fitness following the easing of provincial pandemic precautions.
“Our recent efforts had been on how we are going to be ready for child care to make sure we had all the appropriate safety and health protocols in place but that one is moved back by a week,” said Andre Gallant, YMCA of Cape Breton CEO.
“Originally, we had anticipated that the fitness piece would not be for many months.”
While the province announced earlier this week that fitness facilities can open June 5, YMCA officials had not been expecting that to happen until the end of summer. In the same announcement the province stated the child-care sector could reopen June 15.
As a result, the focus at the YMCA has rapidly shifted.
Protective barriers for membership services staff, medical-grade and single-use masks, gloves, sanitizing stations and increased cleaning routines will part of reopening plans.
“On busy days in normal circumstances we have up to 1,000 people come through the Frank Rudderham YMCA on a given day,” said Gallant.
“That’s a potential for a lot of exposure. Those numbers will be down but we have a clear obligation to minimize the risks to our staff who will be seeing dozens, if not hundreds of people a day.”
Around Cape Breton, other physical fitness facilities are also making plans to return to business as soon as possible.
At Breathing Space Yoga Studio, an opening will likely mean class sizes in the 15-person range as opposed to as many as 42 before COVID-19 precautions were implemented.
“June 5, you know what? I am going back to our regular schedule. I’m just going to go for it,” said Krystall MacLeod, owner of the Sydney studio.
“My plan is to open up the doors and see how it goes. If classes are at capacity under the new guidelines, then I’ll think about doing back-toback of the same style classes and maybe put them to 45-50 minutes a class.”
Fitness facilities such as Ascendo Fitness, Moxham Fitness, Perry’s Gym, Platinum Fitness and numerous others have stated they will be open Fridayl.
Gallant said provincial YMCAs are all collectively working on reopening plans, which will then be submitted to the province for approval.
More clarity is being sought on the status of the pool at the YMCA, and, as a result, it won’t initially open.
The future of summer camps is also under evaluation and will become more of a focus once the status of licensed child-care and membership centres are clarified.
Should summer camps proceed, there’s a chance they may be held at a location outside of the YMCA to meet new spacing requirements.