Perry Messer is eagerly awaiting the start of phase three of Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening plan.
It’s been over three months since he shut down operations at his two athletic centers, the Northampton Athletic Club and Hampshire Athletic Club in Amherst.
July 6 is the earliest phase three can start. Fitness centers and health clubs are designated phase three businesses.
“People will be apprehensive and nervous,” Messer said. “The only thing we can do is make it safe for both my employees and customers and that’s what we’re going to do, is do the best job we can at that and go from there. I get the sense most people are ready to get back and get going with their workouts. Trying to stay healthy is important, just for mental health and physical health.”
With little guidance from the state, Messer did his own research to see what he can do to be ready to reopen. The clubs have been closed since March 16 when the state shut down due to coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve been looking in our industry, both worldwide and any of the clubs that are open, and we’ve taken the best protocols what we feel out of all of them and we’re ready to implement that just to be on the safe side with everything,” he said. “We’ll see. I doubt the state can be any more stringent than what we’re going to do. We just have to wait and see what happens.”
Messer said both clubs will operate differently when they reopen. There will be a hand sanitizer station when people arrive and temperatures will be taken.
“They are not going to allow things like the use of showers, locker rooms and that stuff right off the bat; no basketball,” Messer said. “We moved some of our equipment into the gymnasium, socially distance them apart. With our cardio equipment, what we’re doing is putting in a social distance sign on every other machine. … They have a hour to get their workout in, give them their own personal spray bottle, hand towel.”
Messer said his staff will clean equipment to keep it safe.
“We’re going to rotate our equipment out,” he said. “If we had the first, third, fifth, seventh treadmill going, we’ll switch the signs, disinfect all the stuff that was used and then let them use the other stuff. We’re just going to rotate them every couple hours.
“We had to separate all our equipment in the free weight room, all the nautilus stuff, just spread things out as best we can,” Messer continued. “Put it this way, I can keep them safer than they can at Walmart or Home Depot.”
Messer has spent most of the last three months at the Hampshire Athletic Club in Amherst. The club suffered heavy damage from a two-alarm fire on Nov. 1. The fire was ruled accidental.
“I’m hoping by the end of the July we’ll have the whole renovation done,” Messer said. “We’ve been able to work on it nonstop.”
Messer said the facility was back running at 75-80% by Thanksgiving. When the club reopens he hopes its only a short while until it’s back to 100%.
“We’ll be back operating at the 75% hopefully for only a couple weeks after” reopening, he said. “We’re sheetrocking now so we’ll be in the painting and putting the flooring in and get the equipment in shortly.”
Messer said customers are looking forward to getting back to gym.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people that are anxious to get back in, get working out,” he said. “I’ve gotten a lot of personal texts and a lot of calls and questions and we just keep them updated as best we can.”
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. Follow on Twitter @mikemoranDHG.