St. Albert gyms, bars, restaurants and hockey rinks will be able to reopen to customers as early as next Monday, but many business owners say they’re not rushing to throw open their doors.
The province announced a new framework for its COVID-19 health restrictions Jan. 29. Under it, as of Feb. 8, schools would be able to resume use off-site facilities for student education and gyms, bars, and restaurants could resume in-person service with restrictions provided the province had less than 600 COVID-19 patients in hospital.
The province was on track to beat that benchmark as of Feb. 1, with 556 people in hospital with COVID-19.
The framework states that additional restrictions could be lifted once COVID-19 hospitalizations fall below 450, 300 and 150 people, with at least a three-week gap between each change.
Open? Closed? Dunno yet
Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club members have been training exclusively at home since the province ordered all gyms to close on Dec. 13, said general manager Danielle Smith. Group fitness classes have been at-home only since Nov. 12. About 100 of the club’s 600 members are taking part in the gym’s online classes.
Smith said the club had been able to shift many of its classes online and has even loaned out spin bikes. Still, there is not much in the way of money coming in, and many trainers have been working reduced hours.
Under the new provincial framework, gyms will be allowed to reopen Feb. 8 for one-on-one training by appointment. Trainers must be certified or paid professionals and wear masks at all times. Clients and trainers must interact solely with their assigned partners and stay at least three metres from anyone else.
Smith said the club isn’t sure if it will resume in-person one-on-one training Feb. 8, as it would depend on costs and trainer availability. If they do, they have enough space and trainers to host up to 10 clients at once under the province’s rules.
“We’re excited by any possibility to have our folks come back and get our personal trainers working,” she said.
Bars and restaurants would be allowed to resume in-person service on Feb. 8 under the framework. No entertainment will be allowed. Each table will be limited to at most six people from the same home or one person who lives alone plus their two designated close contacts. Servers must record the contact information of at least one person per table, keep tables six feet apart, stop serving alcohol by 10 p.m. and stop in-person dining by 11 p.m.
Lynn Kolpak of Socrates Restaurant said she was a little shocked the province is reopening indoor dining. Her staffers have been serving take-out only since Dec. 13, and would meet this week to see if they would resume dine-in service Feb. 8.
“We want to make sure it's safe for us as well as our clientele.”
Kolpak said it could be tough to get customers to disclose their contact information, noting she has had issues previously with some who refused to wear masks.
Jack’s Burger Shack would not reopen its in-store tables Feb. 8, said owner Tu Le, and would likely keep them closed (as it has since last March) until the province lifts all physical distancing requirements.
“Our restaurant is just too small,” Le said, and there’s no way for customers to keep six feet apart inside it.
“I couldn’t even fit four people in there.”
Schools will be able to use off-site facilities for educational purposes after Feb. 8 under the new framework. This change would let St. Albert’s sports academies visit sports centres off school grounds – something they haven’t been doing since Oct. 28.
But don’t expect that to happen anytime soon, said St. Albert Public superintendent Krimsen Sumners – St. Albert’s school boards want to know what city facilities, if any, will be open next week before they make any plans.
“In order for our (sports) academies to open up, we need our city to be functioning as well.”
The City of St. Albert has yet to decide if it would reopen its indoor recreation facilities on Feb. 8, said city spokesperson Cory Sinclair in an email. These included Servus Place, Fountain Park Recreation Centre, the Arden Theatre and the Jarome Iginla and Kinex Arenas.
The field house and arena at the Morinville Leisure Centre would reopen for pre-booked one-on-one training with a certified and/or paid trainer starting Feb. 8, Town of Morinville spokesperson Tracy Dalzell-Heise said in an email. The town’s community cultural centre would stay closed.
Residents should check the City of St. Albert and Town of Morinville websites for updates on the status of public facilities.
