Kids in Saskatchewan now have indoor options for play as coronavirus restrictions ease on recreation facilities.
The province allowed indoor sports and recreation businesses to resume operations starting July 6, with public safety measures in place.
SkyPark Regina chose to do a soft opening on Monday, with a focus on training its staff on the added changes.
“Making sure everything is sanitized, and routine cleaning is up 100 per cent. So we are routine cleaning as of every 10 minutes compared to every hour before,” said Kenny Tran, SkyPark Regina manager.
“Anytime a customer is going onto any of our rope courses, our climbing walls or our go karts, they have to sanitize their hands, and then we have to sanitize the equipment after they are done.”
Tran said social distancing will be applied throughout the facility. Staff will wear facemasks, while customers will have the choice to wear one, but all must be healthy before entering the building.
SkyPark will operate at 50 per cent capacity — room for 150 people — on a first-come, first-served basis.
There are additional limits on groups in certain areas, such as a two-hole separation between players on the mini golf course. Those hitting the go-kart track will don a disposable head covering to wear under
Tran said he’s hired back all staff members and will run two shifts of 10 employees each to cover the sanitization required.
SkyPark Regina had only been open for 21 days before the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to close temporarily.
As a new business, it was ineligible for federal funding, but received two of the small business emergency grants offered by the Saskatchewan government.
Klimerz Indoor Playland to reopen
Another new business that faced the threat of permanent closure was Klimerz Indoor Playland in Regina.
Owner Ryan Scheuer opened Klimerz on Jan. 20, only to close it less than two months later due to COVID-19 restrictions.
On Tuesday, he told Global News the facility is set to reopen on July 11.
“I am happy that things are progressing,” Scheuer said, adding that social distancing could still be a challenge for kids.
He said Klimerz will adhere to indoor gathering size restrictions of 30 people at once, with enhanced cleaning and hand hygiene measures.
The facility will reopen by appointment only to ensure group sizes and dedicated time increments.
Meanwhile, Chuck E. Cheese has announced reopenings in North America. The Regina location has teased an upcoming reopen date on its social pages, but there’s no word yet on when that will happen.
Comments