A Dartmouth rec centre has permanently closed its dry saunas due to too many medical emergencies, intentional misuse and “sexually inappropriate behaviour.”
Cole Harbour Place announced this week it was shutting down its saunas in the men’s and women’s adult change rooms effective immediately — and permanently.
“The instances of medical emergencies that have happened or just responses to medical issues that have happened has been increasing over the past little while,” general manager Jen Heddon told Global News.
“And in conjunction with people unfortunately not obeying the rules.”
According to a posted sign for members, the centre has received “multiple reports of sexually inappropriate behaviour occurring in the saunas.”
“These incidents are part of a concerning and ongoing pattern,” the advisory reads.
Heddon added that staff have received weekly complaints about the saunas and lifeguards have increasingly had to respond to medical emergencies, such as overheating.
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“Mainly the saunas are located in our change rooms, which people and staff just aren’t there, so there’s not always that visibility,” she said.
“So things could happen, and we may not know for a little while. So we just didn’t want anything to happen and us not know about that.”
She said she understands members may be disappointed with the decision, but “we just can’t continue having them open.”
Member Derek Forbes said he’s among those disappointed with the closure.
“There’s always safety (concerns) everywhere, but I think that the safety stuff that they’re talking about is just a misdirection on spending money,” he said, adding that there are great health benefits to using a sauna.
“It was really healthy, it really topped off your day. It was something you looked forward to at the end of a workout.”
— With files from Kendra Gannon
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