WESTLOCK – After three months the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre is scheduled to reopen to the public Monday, March 15, with adjusted activities and capacities under the modified guidelines laid out in Stage 2 of the province’s COVID-19 economic relaunch plan.
The RSC is the second town-owned rec facility in as many weeks to open as the Westlock Aquatic Centre came back online March 8, the same day the Westlock Municipal Library also unlocked its front doors. The RSC will be open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and all users must call 780-349-6654 and pre-book as drop-ins aren’t allowed.
The RSC weight room will be open to one person and a trainer, or one household with one trainer, while the walking track that rings the arena will only be for walking as provincial guidelines currently prohibit running and high-intensity/interval workouts. The fieldhouse and arena are also open, but only for rentals — youth group activities to a maximum of 10 are allowed, as well as household groups.
Community services director Gerry Murphy said the pool reopening hasn’t gone swimmingly due to the restrictive provincial measures — specifically the need for masks during workouts in the pool. The RSC and pool closed to the public Dec. 13 when the province issued its second round of lockdown orders — previously, both had been operating on reduced hours following the measures introduced at the end of November. Following the December shutdown, the town decided to pull the ice from the RSC, but kept the water in the pool, albeit at a lower temperature to save on heating costs.
“It certainly has its challenges. People were hoping that they could come back to the pool and continue with the activities they were used to doing before we closed, but unfortunately for us to remain within the provincial health measures, that’s not possible,” said Murphy.
“We have opened up Aquafit again because it is a low-intensity activity and it is permitted, but one of the caveats the province has around it is that all low-intensity activities must be masked, so you can imagine the challenges with that in a pool. The masks are paper, so they get wet and fall apart and the cloth masks, as soon as they get wet, restrict air flow and that has potential dangers attached to it.
“So we were a little surprised with the province in some of their stipulations, but we’re trying to work within them and still provide some recreational opportunities for our residents … and certainly some of them are becoming quite frustrated and projecting that frustration on the town. But we’ve got big shoulders and we’ll engage with them and let them know that we’re trying to open up as much as we can and provide as much as we can within the guidelines. We don’t have an option not to follow the guidelines.”
Murphy said another of the sticking points with residents has been around limited weight-room access. He said the municipality’s COVID recovery taskforce met numerous times leading up to the pool reopening and decided to limit the weight room to one-on-ones with a personal trainer. And again, Murphy noted, the level and intensity of the workout is still governed by provincial guidelines.
“There’s been some recovery taskforce meetings around this and other issues and the taskforce’s decision not to fully open the gyms was, I feel, the right one. Let’s face it, first of all working out with a mask on probably isn’t entirely safe and there’s data out there to suggest that. And to be honest, all of the activities (and level of intensity) that you can currently do in the gym (as per the province), you don’t need a gym for,” Murphy noted.
“When you look at the restrictions, anything that could be considered a cardio workout … all of the reasons you’d go to a gym, you can’t do in a gym right now unless you bring a trainer. So I understand that’s a sticking point for some people, but I do agree with and support the taskforce decision to keep the gyms closed until the restrictions are lifted to the point that we can offer at least some of the activities that the gym is meant for.
“I mean it goes against our nature to tell people to not break a sweat and or that they can’t do any cardio … that’s not something we want to get into, or are equipped to do.”
Ultimately Murphy said they’ll continue to monitor the province’s guidelines and look forward to steps 3 and 4, when the restrictions will be eased to allow for more activities. Murphy said he’s also been in contact with big springtime user groups like lacrosse, minor ball and the Ukrainian dance club who all have intentions of using the RSC, or the curling rink in the case of ball and the dance club.
“I know lacrosse is anxious to get back in and they may be coming in sooner because the ice is out. Minor ball I believe is looking at their numbers and their season and they have full intentions of using the curling rink again, it’s just a matter of timing. And football is even looking at renting the gym, or portions of the gym because as you know organized youth and school sports fall under a different set of rules then the general public,” he continued.
“Ultimately our intention is to open up and provide as many services as we can within the health measures.”
