B.C. gym owners hoping for quick reopening in New Year
Posted January 1, 2022 9:14 am.
With the New Year here – you’ll have to find a different way to reach your fitness goals (for now) as gyms remain closed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
But one industry expert says he’s hopeful the reopening of gyms can happen on time – with consultation and cooperation with the province.
Carl Ulmer is the Director of Operations for Club 16 and She’s Fit – he was part of the group that was able to speak to Dr. Bonnie Henry after the province shut down gyms.
He says the closure of gyms was ‘abrupt’ and without any consultation – adding they’re willing and hopeful their willingness to work with the province will lead to a reopening of gyms.
“The entire time during this whole pandemic, we have been engaged with Dr. Henry and her team and the government on working with them specifically on health and safety guidelines in fitness centers,” he says.
“To go from completely open to completely closed within 24 hours, it was definitely a surprise and frustrating. So, we were pleased to hear that Dr. Henry wanted to speak directly with us on the closure of gyms and the conversation definitely went in a positive direction.”
All memberships are on immediate freeze- there is nothing you need to do.
To support Public Health recommendations, we will be temporarily closing all Club16 and She’s FIT locations beginning this Thursday, December 23rd.
We will re-open our doors on Tuesday, January 18th. pic.twitter.com/N3lX1Mrc1I
— Club16 Trevor Linden Fitness and She’s FIT (@trevorlindenfit) December 21, 2021
“We are confident that what BC public health didn’t consider when they decided to close gyms down completely, was the fact that we actually as a business, we don’t just employ people, we don’t just pay taxes and contribute to the province in that way. We also add value when it comes to British Columbians health and wellness,” Ulmer says.
“They didn’t consider the fact that gyms contribute to the health and wellness of British Columbians in their decision and so discussing that with Dr. Henry, bringing that point to her and over the last couple of days having some further engagement with her and her team we are confident that they’re starting to see the benefits of keeping fitness open.”
Ulmer adds as in previous waves of the COVID pandemic, various health and safety measures were put in place in various gyms, including mask mandates, increased cleaning of equipment and social distancing measures. And he says they’re willing to do it all again.
“We are willing to do whatever is in the best interest of our staff and our members. In fact, there were gyms within the Fitness Industry Council of Canada back in November that mandated masks within our facilities prior to public health mandating masks while exercising and so we have shown our commitment to keeping gyms open for our communities,” he says.
“That’s where our confidence comes from, in discussing these things with Dr. Henry and the provincial government. We’ve done our part and so we’re looking for the government to include us in these discussions, to include us and keeping us open with whatever guidelines that are going to keep people healthy and safe.”
He adds he’s confident even with the recent spike in cases we’ve experienced in British Columbia, gyms will be allowed to reopen within a few weeks.
“Hospitalizations have leveled off, they haven’t increased over the last little bit. So, our engagement with Dr. Henry around the data has been positive to this point and we are confident that British Columbians have done the right thing. They become vaccinated. They’re looking for those booster shots. They’re looking to get into gyms to remain healthy and fit. They’ve done the right things. And we’re confident that by doing the right things by doing what public health has told us to do this entire pandemic, it’s going to support hospitalization staying low and we will be able to reopen.” Ulmer adds especially as the winter drags on – many British Columbians rely on the gym and physical exercise for their mental health.
“We have millions of fitness members in British Columbia that typically would fill their week with five to 10 hours of healthy physical activities to support their mental and physical health. What scares us is with the snow outside and the bad weather, what are British Columbians filling that time with now,” he says.
“We are going to be the biggest part of our province and our country coming back and healing from this pandemic. Vaccines are vital, they’re crucial, but to complement that in the long term we need health and fitness. We need mental health and physical health to be taken care of and gyms do that in our province and in Canada.”
