Rimbey Recreation facilities are returning to some semblance of normal after a long COVID-19 hiatus.
Cindy Bowie, Town of Rimbey community services director, said they have received good feedback since reopening the pool and the fitness centre.
“The pool is open and we have been fairly busy with swimming lessons. Everyone is coming back to do their summer activities and it seems like everyone is happy we are open,” she said.
While the pool and fitness centre are now open, the community centre is not quite ready.
“In the community centre, we have the upper auditorium open but we are not fully open. We have our bathroom renovations going on, which should be done shortly,” Bowie said.
Bowie said the Town was able to reopen their rec facilities after going through Alberta Health Services guidelines.
“We really thought we wouldn’t be able to open the pool at all. We waited to hear the word form the province and AHS saying they were allowing us to open. We worked from there to ensure this is a safe opening for everyone in the community,” she said.
Bowie said her staff is ensuring everything is being cleaned on a regular basis.
“We are sanitizing every few hours and going through doing all the door handles and touch zones. We are limiting numbers in the pool and fitness centre to ensure there is not a lot of people in there at any given time,” she said,
The Town chose not to open their hot tubs this year due to the small size of the tubs not allowing for social distancing
With the reopening of the facility, the Town is able to maintain their recreation staffing levels.
“We were able to get everyone back and we didn’t really lay anyone off. We were able to find things to do in the community centre maintenance-wise in order to keep everyone occupied,” Bowie said.
Bowie said they are expecting users to follow the rules in order for the facilities to remain open.
”If they want to come and use the facility, we are telling them what our regulations are. If they can follow those — great. If they can’t — we really don’t want them in our building,” she said.
She added, “Everyone is loving being back. They are policing themselves and making sure everyone is following the rules to make sure everyone is following the rules.”
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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