The owner of a Lethbridge gym who said he would resume classes at the facility on June 1 regardless of provincial health orders has announced he is now delaying the reopening.
A post on the Canadian Martial Arts Centre Facebook page from Wednesday evening says Lee Mein met with Alberta Health Services (AHS) representatives and has been in contact with area MLA Nathan Neudorf, adding that they are “all working together to see what can be done.”
According to the post, Lee “provided them with an outline of health and safety protocols” that the gym already uses, “along with some added precautions that we would be willing to implement in order to safely reopen our doors.”
“We won’t be opening for classes on June 1 as we are respectfully waiting to hear back from those we are working with.”
Earlier this week, Mein had said he planned to fully reopen the Canadian Martial Arts Centre in Lethbridge ahead of getting the provincial green light and without following official health protocols.
The province has said gyms won’t be able to reopen until Stage 3 of Alberta’s relaunch strategy. The province is currently in Stage 1 with no date for the start of Stage 3 yet announced by provincial officials.
In his initial Facebook post from Sunday, May 24, Mein said he would be reopening the gym because it was “his right” to run his business.
“The mental health and physical health of my students and their freedoms are more important to me than the fear of a virus that has been grossly over-reacted to by the government,” the post stated.
Mein said he wouldn’t be following new operating procedures outlined by the province amid COVID-19 as he felt there was “no proof these extra hoops they want us to jump through provide any extra protection.”
Speaking to Global News the next day, Mein said the gym already has cleaning protocols in place.
“We clean the mats daily, we disinfect everything after it’s used,” Mein said. “All these measures are ridiculous, in my opinion, because there’s no proof that this changes anything.
“We have people concerned about kids getting sick or grandparents getting sick… people get sick all the time. If kids are sick, they don’t come to class.”
In a statement to Global News, the Lethbridge Police Service said officers “do not want to ticket people, but if there is a flagrant violation of the rules we will take action — and gym operators and other businesses need to understand this.”
In Wednesday’s updated Facebook post, Mein announced that instead of reopening on June 1, the gym would be hosting a free barbecue to thank members for their support.
In an accompanying video, Mein said “we still have to do the 50 people in a group for social distancing … But we’ll monitor that as the night goes on.
“So if you want to come down and say hi and see everyone, please do. Share some burgers with us, and we’ll have some fun.”
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