Multiplex opening July 6 by appointment only

ATHABASCA – When the Athabasca Regional Multiplex reopens to the public July 6 it will not be in the way people are familiar with. 

During the ARM society board meeting June 22, facility manager Kelsea Brown informed members that based on discussions with other facilities and with guidelines from the Alberta government there will be no open-door policy. All activities must be booked in advance including swimming and using the fitness area. 

“I've been in conversation with a lot of the facilities; everyone's doing their own thing in a modified way because no two facilities are the same. I think 75 per cent of facilities are going by booking, if not higher,” Brown said. “I'll just keep in touch with them and see if they run into any issues or any brilliant ideas that somehow make life easier but I think this is what's best for us right now, until we can get a handle on what it looks like.” 

Brown added they are preparing for full bookings but if that does not happen, they will adjust the plan. 

“This is if we're so busy we're at full capacity we need to be getting people cleaning and doing this, that and the other. That's what we're preparing for and you know what, it might not look like that,” Brown said. 

Patrons will be allowed to enter only if they have a booking and the booking includes how many people will be attending as there are limits on how many people can be in any area; only 56, including staff, will be allowed in the entire pool area at one time, for example. 

"The pool has five areas for booking and the fitness center has six,” she said, adding the fieldhouse will be divided into thirds. 

Brown told the committee that the fitness center pods will have different forms of equipment in them so everyone will have a piece of cardio, some weights and other equipment and must maintain a three-metre distance. The contents of each pod will be posted on the website so people can book a specific one if they prefer that equipment. 

“The fitness center is three meters, not two, so we have to be really sure that we're able to keep people at their distances. They check in at the front desk and go upstairs to the fitness center,” said Brown. “They have an hour booking and it's rotating so no two groups will come at the same time.” 

Patrons will also be asked to clean their areas, are discouraged from using the washroom, and there is to be no showering before they leave. 

For the pool, patrons will check in at the front desk and then wait in the bleachers for the lifeguard to give them access to their area. Brown added that swimmers will be asked to come prepared to swim as there will be no change room access before entering the pool area. 

"They're asked to come changed so they aren't using the change rooms as per the recommendations. They put all their stuff in a bin, go use their area for an hour, they leave and they're allowed to use the change room on the way out because I didn't feel it was fair to ask people to go home wet in a bathing suit and walk outside,” she said. 

The pool will be divided into two lanes for solo swimmers with a lane between for distancing. The side of the pool where the rock wall is will be open with a width of two lanes with an unused lane separating it from a solo lane. The zero-depth pool will be another section for tots and parents and the section with the lazy river is the fifth choice.  

You choose the area when booking and there are limits of cohort size depending on which area. The zero-depth pool can hold six people who must be in the same cohort but the lazy river area will be for up to 20 in a cohort. The slide will be open to everyone and will have social distancing markers in place. 

To start, Brown said the facility will be open for nine hours with staff working 10-hour days until they see what the bookings look like. 

"We can make sure we get a flow of how things are going to go, learn what areas need tweaking and then hopefully we can expand those hours after a couple weeks. We want to come out strong and make sure that we're doing what we need to do,” she said. 

ARMS chair, Town of Athabasca Coun. Rob Balay asked how it will be handled if people show up without a booking. 

“What are you going to do with walk-ups, because no matter how much you advertise, you're going to get that,” he said. 

Brown explained there is nothing stopping people from calling from the parking lot and booking a spot if it is available. 

"The worst-case scenario, they can call from the parking lot. If we have availability, great, but we don't want you in our building just because we need to keep track of who's in there and the easiest way to do that is by booking and that's also the guidelines,” Brown said.

Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
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