There is some welcome news for YMCA members across the Quinte Region as the branches in Belleville and Quinte West will reopen Tuesday.
In a two-phase approach, branches will be offering small group fitness classes and access to individual conditioning rooms with limited capacity, but programming will be limited to start and there will be no access to pools.
President and CEO Dave Allen tells Quinte News if things go well they’ll be able to move on to phase two.
“So this week is conditioning and fitness. Next week we’ll add the pool and use of the shower areas, and then if we can make some adjustments, we’ll be able to do that. We just felt that attempting to open everything all at once would create some real challenges.”
Some changes have been made to some of the buildings, including new membership desks and entrances, and visitors will be screened for any COVID-19 symptoms before being allowed inside.
Allen says gym-goers will also need to wear their masks, for at least part of their visit and staff will be wearing masks as well.
“Once you’re on a piece of equipment working out, you can remove your mask, but once you get up to clean that piece of equipment and move to the next piece, then you put the mask back on. For our classes we’ve sectioned off in our gymnasiums, spaces that are 12 feet by 12 feet.”
He adds, they’ll be holding off on taking membership fees this month as well, to let people try things out and get used to the new procedures.
“We’re allowing our members to come in and take a look at what we’ve done, have an experience with us and then make a decision after that. We really feel that we’ve taken the right approach and put systems in place that protect our members and allow them to meet their health and fitness needs.”
All three Central-East branches will be open with the following hours:
- Monday to Friday between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (Closed 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for deep cleaning)
- Saturday and Sunday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Closed 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. for deep cleaning)
Other safety precautions include:
- Screening and temperature checks at entry points
- Plexiglass guards at sales desks
- Cleaning stations
- Wet wipe stations
- Flow/wayfinding signage
- Extra cleaning staff on duty
