Queens Place Partially Reopening Monday

Anyone looking to burn of those “COVID-19 pounds” is in luck as Queens Place Emera Centre is preparing to reopen part of the facility Monday.

The first phase will offer members the chance to use the fitness centre and track.

The number of participants who can use the facilities at one time will be limited to 15 for the fitness centre and 25 for the track.

Director of Recreation and Healthy Communities Meaghan Roberts says the fitness centre has removed duplicate machines and rearranged the equipment to ensure social distancing can occur.

Roberts says staff will be cleaning throughout the day, but guests will have to do their part as well.

“We ask that each person, before and after they use any equipment, that they wipe it down with the provided disinfectant. Members will have their own spray bottle to carry around with them while they are there. Then when they are done with it at the end of their time slot then we disinfect all the disinfectant bottles before we give them out to other people.”

Members can sign up to one of six 90-minute time slots to use the fitness room between 8:00am and 6:30pm.

If someone were to just drop in looking to exercise, they could join the current time slot, but it may already be full to the 15 person capacity, so Roberts advises phoning ahead to book the spot.

The track will be available for drop-in use as staff estimates the 25-person limit will meet the demand and the social distancing requirements.

Roberts says the reopening plan is rolling out in a cautious and manageable pace for patrons and staff to adjust to the new procedures.

“In order to move beyond, we all need to work together to safely get there. And obviously, we’re looking for everyone’s feedback as we go through these and we’ll take everything into account. But at the end of the day, we do have to follow the protocols that are provided by public health.”

Roberts worked closely with staff from public health to develop the plan that would allow Queens Place to reopen.

She says each public facility across the province will proceed in its own way, as every facility is different.

There are no set timelines on when they might open up the rest of Queens place.

Roberts stresses that it’s up to everyone to make each phase of the reopening work before they can think about moving onto the next.

“As we go through any parts of our reopening it’ll be continuously evaluated and we’ll change based on what works and doesn’t, because of course, we’re not going to get it perfect. But you also have to see how the people coming in are going to react.”

She hopes if anyone sees something that isn’t working, or has a suggestion on how things could be improved or perhaps just has questions around why things are operating in the way they are, they will talk to the staff.

“People are really quick to jump to social media and I just feel like we all need to work together in this and it’s always better to have a conversation directly with people and allow them the opportunity to hear what you have to say.”

Roberts says staff at Queens Place will start booking timeslots Wednesday for Monday’s reopening.

More information on the guidelines is available on the Queens Place Facebook page.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson