40 | SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020
Michigan Gyms Reopen,
But JCC Pumps the Brakes
Other health centers opened their doors Sept. 9 following Whitmer’
s orders.
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
Jews in the D
A
fter six months of
Michigan’
s gyms, fitness
centers and pools being
closed due to the COVID-19
pandemic, an executive order
from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
allowed them to reopen Sept. 9
with a plethora of new guidelines
and precautions.
Some fitness centers, such as
the JCC’
s, are taking their time
and are still in the process of
planning the right way to go
about a safe reopening.
As of press time, JCC Chief
Operating Officer Jeffrey Lasday
told the JN, “For now, the JCC is
reviewing the governor’
s orders
to assess the practical implica-
tions of the new regulations on
our fitness and pool operation.
Our outdoor pool will remain
open as long as the weather per-
mits.
” It did not open its fitness
center last week.
Other nearby gyms with large
Jewish customer bases did open
Sept. 9, including the Sports Club
of West Bloomfield and Franklin
Athletic Club in Southfield.
The Schvitz, a Detroit bath
house with historical Jewish
roots, couldn’
t be reached for
comment but is closed for nor-
mal operating hours until further
notice, according to its website.
New guidelines include: the
wearing of masks at all times,
excluding while swimming;
configuring workout stations
or implementing protocols to
enable 6 feet of distance between
individuals during exercise
sessions; reducing class sizes to
enable at least 6 feet of separation
between individuals; and limiting
capacity in the facility to 25% of
total occupancy.
Gyms must also provide
equipment-cleaning products
throughout the facilities and
regularly disinfect exercise equip-
ment, including immediately
after use. Facilities must main-
tain accurate records, including
date and time of entry and exit,
names of patrons and contact
information to aid with contact
tracing. Facilities must also
post signs outside of entrances
instructing individuals not to
enter if they are or have recently
been sick.
Steam rooms, saunas, jacuzzis
and cold plunge pools are not to
be opened yet.
For outdoor pools, facilities
must limit capacity to 50% of the
bather capacity limits, while for
indoor pools, facilities must limit
capacity to 25% of the bather
capacity limits. Capacity must
also be limited on pool decks to
ensure 6 feet of distance between
pool goers.
Jimmy Martin, membership
director of Franklin Athletic
Club, is taking the
reopening as seri-
ously as possible
after being closed
since St. Patrick’
s
Day.
“We’
re going to
safe distance, and
the way we’
re going to do that
is to take most of the cardio off
the workout floor. We have a
really long, wide club, and we’
re
going to space those cardio
machines at least 20 feet apart,”
Martin said. “We just want peo-
ple to feel comfortable.”
According to Martin, Franklin
is receiving many phone calls
from people asking if they can
assure them that the return will
consist of a safe environment.
Martin and Franklin, in turn,
are filming videos of the precau-
tions being taken and sending
them to patrons.
“I’
m going to video all of
the safety protocols that we’
re
doing,” Martin said. “The dis-
infecting, the masks, the safe
distancing. I want you to feel so
comfortable that you don’
t even
think about it.
”
Martin will be sending the vid-
eos to members, former mem-
bers and the guest database.
Franklin opened its tennis
courts and indoor club last week.
Don Arndt, owner of the
Sports Club of West Bloomfield,
was happy to reopen after a long
six months.
“We are completely prepared
and fortunate to have a very
large building, 170,000 square
feet,
” Arndt said. “We’
ve socially
distanced all of our equipment,
we’
ve got plexiglass shields up
between instructors, and I think
we’
re very ready to open, follow-
ing [Whitmer’
s] rules safely.
”
Arndt also pointed out that all
of Sport’
s Club’
s studios have UV
sterilization systems, which “kills
99.9999% of viruses, bacteria,
mold, etc.
“We’
re opening with fewer
hours, slightly, and then fewer
classes until we get a feel of how
things are going so we can do
it safely,
” Arndt added. “I think
that’
s really important that we
start off slow, figure out what
works, what doesn’
t work, what
we can do safely and what we
can’
t do safely, and then we’
ll
adjust accordingly.
”
Jimmy
Martin
JIMMY MARTIN