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Jun 24

Fitness centers differ in responses to judge’s ruling – Midland Daily News

Fitness Comments Off on Fitness centers differ in responses to judge’s ruling – Midland Daily News

FILE Dean Wolfe lifts weights as his father, Eric Wolfe, spots him in January at Edge Fitness and Training Headquarters in Midland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

FILE Dean Wolfe lifts weights as his father, Eric Wolfe, spots him in January at Edge Fitness and Training Headquarters in Midland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

FILE Dean Wolfe lifts weights as his father, Eric Wolfe, spots him in January at Edge Fitness and Training Headquarters in Midland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

FILE Dean Wolfe lifts weights as his father, Eric Wolfe, spots him in January at Edge Fitness and Training Headquarters in Midland. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Fitnesscenters differ in responses to judge's ruling

Fitness entities in Midland County are taking different responses to U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney's preliminary injunction last Friday that allows Michigan's indoor gyms to reopen on Thursday, June 25.

Maloney's judgment overruled part of the Safe Start Plan of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who said Friday she would appeal the decision to the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The southern Lower Peninsula, including Midland County and Region 4, is still in Phase 4 of the Safe Start Plan for reopening the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Whitmer had specified that indoor gyms are not allowed to open until Phase 5.

Greater Midland President/CEO Kristen McDonald said the indoor recreational facilities will remain closed to the general public at its six centers in Midland County until the governor announces a move to Phase 5.

Those facilities include Greater Midland Community Center, Midland Curling Center, Greater Midland Tennis Center, North End Fitness Center, North Family Center and Coleman Family Center.

"We are going to follow the recommendations of the CDC, the local (Midland County) health department and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services," McDonald said. "We know that the (coronavirus) numbers in Michigan are headed in the right direction and we are optimistic that we will be able to open our doors to members in the near future.

"In the meantime, our staff are preparing our facilities so that we can ensure that they are as safe as possible," McDonald added.

Greater Midland's indoor facilities are currently open only to its day camp participants. McDonald expects that Midland County will be in Phase 5 within a couple of weeks, at which point she expects all of Greater Midland's indoor facilities, including indoor pools, will open to the general public at partial capacity.

"I know that people want to come back and work out (in our facilities)," McDonald said. "We want people to come back and work out, but we can't do it until we have public health officials telling us it's the right time. What we are hearing from public health officials is that working out in a cardio room is one of the higher-risk activities, with heavy breathing and sweat."

She stressed that Greater Midland centers are currently offering outdoor activities, such as walking groups for seniors, exercise classes, and tennis activities on the outdoor courts at the tennis center, among other things.

"(We're doing) as much as we can to get people together outside to be active in the safest possible way," McDonald said.

Planet Fitness to reopen on June 25

A staff member at Planet Fitness, at 701 Joe Mann Boulevard in Midland, told the Daily News that the center is planning to reopen on Thursday, June 25, the first day that the judge's ruling allows it to be open, unless Whitmer's appeal of the ruling is successful.

The staff member also said that Planet Fitness still plans to move to a 30,000-square-foot space in the former JCPenney location at the Midland Mall by the end of August. The Daily News previously reported this announcement at https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Planet-Fitness-to-relocate-into-Midland-Mall-15040286.php

EDGE Fitness to open by early next week

Another indoor gym, EDGE Fitness and Training Headquarters, plans to reopen in a new location by early next week for the first time since closing in late March due to an executive order, owner Brian Patrick said.

EDGE Fitness, formerly on Washington Street in the Midland Towne Center, is now in Sanford on M-30 across from McDonald's.

"We're pretty excited that we can get back to work and get all of our members back into the gym," Patrick said. "When (the coronavirus) hit and the mandatory shutdown from the governor was instituted, it pretty much put me in a position where I had to make changes for the business to survive.

"But we're also very grateful that with this move we're still able to stay open. We're very blessed," he added.

Last Friday's judicial ruling has moved up Patrick's timeline for reopening.

"We were shooting for the end of (June). Now, with the new (ruling), I'm hoping to get open by the end of this week, or if not, then early next week."

Patrick said the facility whose offerings include martial arts classes, weight training and personal training, among others will use new health protocols to keep its staff and customers safe.

"We're increasing our sanitation and our cleaning, obviously. We're maintaining a little bit of distance, but we just ask that you use common sense. If you're not feeling well, stay home," Patrick said.

Like Greater Midland, EDGE Fitness offers a lot of outdoor activities.

"We also have a lot of outdoor space at this new location, so we're going to be using that a lot for the summer time," Patrick said.

He's also glad to be joining the Sanford business community, especially at a time when it needs support following the flooding that destroyed much of the downtown in May.

"I'm really excited about coming out to Sanford," Patrick said. "I coached JV softball at Meridian (High School). Sanford has been an amazing support for me for the past couple years. So it's been great to come out here and give back to them a little bit."

West Midland holding only outdoor activities this summer

Fourteen miles west of downtown Midland, at the corner of M-20 and Alamando, West Midland Family Center plans to keep its indoor recreational facilities closed throughout the summer while offering a variety of outdoor recreation, Executive Director Greg Dorrien said.

"Our plans right now are to stay closed through the summer in terms of indoor recreational activities," Dorrien said. "We're taking this action because we are running a licensed child care program and we're trying to keep the people that are in our building at a lower number so that ... adults can continue to go to work and have their kids be taken care of safely."

Outdoor offerings at West Midland include zumba, basketball, walking trails, softball fields and a playground, among others.

When it is open, West Midland's indoor facility offers basketball and volleyball leagues, a small rock climbing wall, weight training equipment and a bowling center, among other things.

"For indoor recreation, we hope to open in the fall. We just want to see what the next wave of this virus does," Dorrien said.

The center also has an outdoor pool, but it will not open this summer, also with the intent of limiting the number of people at the center at one time, Dorrien said.

West Midland serves about 10,000 people in the course of a year, and about 400 families use it once a week or more, Dorrien said.

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Fitness centers differ in responses to judge's ruling - Midland Daily News

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