 NOVEMBER 5 • 2020 | 23

A

fter the closing of 
its health club at the 
end of September, 
the Jewish Community 
Center in West Bloomfield 
announced it would reopen 
its indoor pool and track 
this month. But that estimate 
was revised due to the recent 
rise of COVID-19 cases in 
Oakland County, and now the 
reopening may be delayed.
The JCC formed a commit-
tee tasked with exploring new 
ways to offer fitness and well-
ness programming at the JCC 
after the decision to close its 

health club late last month. 
That committee recommend-
ed the reopening of the pool 
and indoor track.
The opening had been 
planned for early November 
but that is now up in the air. 
The JCC had not announced 
a firm reopening date as of 
press time.
Seeing cases going in a 
concerning direction, the JCC 
believed that reopening at the 
start of November could be 
more complicated than they 
originally thought, according 
to JCC assistant executive 

director Heidi Budaj. JCC 
officials will be consulting 
with the Oakland County 
Health Division again and 
will be carefully watching 
what the state Department of 
Health is telegraphing about 
having spaces like indoor 
pools open.
“The safety of our com-
munity is at the forefront of 
our decision so it is possible 
that we may need to delay 
the opening,” a JCC update 
to members said on Oct. 30. 
“We will keep you updated 
as the situation changes and 
look forward to seeing you at 
the JCC very soon.”
The JCC hopes to have 
an update on the reopening 
plans in the second or third 
week of November, Budaj 
told the JN.
Budaj says they are still 
preparing and working 
diligently to make sure 
everything is prepared 
on their end, including 

getting physical spaces 
ready and MindBody app 
accounts active, in case 
they get approval from the 
Department of Health to 
open and get to a point where 
they feel they can do so safely.
Once the indoor pool and 
track officially reopen, the 
JCC has plans to keep both 
open until Memorial Day, 
when they hope to reopen 
their outdoor pool. The cen-
ter was already planning to 
continually re-evaluate the 
reopening plan amid possible 
COVID spikes. 
Michigan is currently expe-
riencing its largest spike in 
COVID-19 cases since the 
beginning of the pandemic. 
Oct. 29 saw 3,675 new cases 
and 41 additional deaths 
reported, including 22 from a 
delayed records review.
Those numbers bring the 
state’
s total number of cases 
to 171,220 and total deaths to 
7,298. 

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

JCC Plans to 
Reopen Indoor 
Pool and Track

JCC FACEBOOK

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 Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation.

 
 
 
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