ATHABASCA — With the announcement of the closure of Athabasca Regional Multiplex until at least January, 37 employees have been temporarily laid-off.
The Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society (ARMS) announced a temporary closure of the facility Nov. 26, and a Dec. 4 media release from Multiplex general manager Jennifer Edworthy noted the temporary layoffs were necessary due to "the financial impact of each gross pay period (approx. $33,413.25) when revenue is drastically reduced,” the release said. “(So,) in recognition of our financial responsibility to the tax payers of the region, we have reduced our staffing levels temporarily by 37 employees.”
At the Town of Athabasca's Dec. 1 council meeting, Coun. Rob Balay, who chairs ARMS, informed council of their decision citing group sports were forced to stop once the region hit enhanced status Nov. 22.
“Obviously group sports had to stop; there's no more minor hockey, no more curling, no more figure skating and that was a good portion of our revenue so, we took steps to mitigate that,” said Balay. “We realized that we were still allowed to operate under provincial regulations at 25 per cent capacity, but we're also taking some mitigation steps in that regard to offset that.”
Edworthy also noted concern for the safety of patrons, staff and the community at-large for the closure which encompasses the entire Multiplex and the Nancy Appleby Theatre.
“We are taking this opportunity to safeguard the health and safety of our staff and public. In doing our part now as a facility, we hope to see the amount of active COVID-19 cases in our region decrease. Hopefully, moving us from enhanced to open status, enabling the facility to operate with less user group restrictions in the New Year,” she said.
