Recreation and fitness in Longmont has been mostly limited to outdoor activities since March because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but facilities have been reopening and classes have been returning over the summer months and the city is still offering ways for residents to stay active even if they are a bit different.
The Longmont Recreation Center and community pools in June began taking reservations, allowing a limited number of people in at a time and with a number of safety precautions and procedures in place
Rec center capacity is 100 people at a time — 50 in the pool area and 50 in the gym, track and workout area, said Jeff Friesner Recreation and Golf Services manager.
The rec center fitness classroom area is limited to six people. “We haven’t been using that area as much,” Friesner said. “We’ve moved most of our exercise classes to the gymnasium so that it is easier to spread people out.”
The changes in the fitness classes that accompanied the pandemic saw a severe decline in participation. Under COVID-19 guidelines, classes are seeing an average of 38% to 39% of their capacity, Friesner said.
Before restrictions were in place, the rec center offered more than100 fitness classes per week, now the number has been reduced to 20 to 25 per week.
“Fitness classes are the lowest of our uses,” Friesner said.
The rec center and Sunset pools have been the most popular among users. Each pool can allow 50 people at a time, with visits limited to an hour and 45 minutes. Sunset Pool saw a nearly 99% turnout and the rec center pool averaged 82% in the lap pool and 42% in the leisure pool while school was out for the summer, Friesner said. Since school started Aug.18, those numbers have declined.
Daily numbers before COVID averaged 1,200 people a day at the rec center. Friesner said the average now is 229 people per day.
“We have found that outdoor activities, because we also have done fitness classes in the park, are much more successful outdoors than they are indoors. A lot of people are telling us that they just aren’t comfortable coming into work out indoors and they have to wear a mask,” Friesner said.
Outdoor fitness classes include yoga, Zumba and Pilyoga in the park.
In addition to reopening the building, the Longmont Recreation Center is offering virtual fitness classes. “We are expanding our ability to offer classes virtually” as the colder months roll in, Friesner said.
“We hope that people feel more comfortable coming indoors as the weather gets colder.”
The weight room at the Memorial Building also is open by reservation for one-hour time slots. Learn more here.
Longmont Recreation Services is working on a public education campaign that will inform the community about the cleaning procedures at all recreation facilities.
Pool areas are cleaned hourly and visitors are asked to wipe off equipment in the workout facilities when they are finished. Every two hours, staff does a thorough cleaning of workout equipment, Friesner said.
The new Fall Online Search Guide was emailed on Friday. It includes links to reserve a spot at a pool or rec center, hours of operation and the fall class guide. A print catalog has been mailed out in the past but, according to the email, “the fluid state of offerings in a time of COVID uncertainty makes a print catalog rapidly out of date.”
A seven-question Indoor Recreation Facility survey ends today. The survey will assist Recreation Services as it plans for continued operations this fall, the email states.
Recreation Services also is offering fall sports for adults and kids. Among the programs that started last month are youth cross country running and girls fastpitch softball. Adult flag football and adult softball leagues started this month. To learn more about adult leagues, including how to find a team, click here.
Boulder County Public Health last week announced it has created guidance for individuals, families, athletic organizations and club teams interested in participating in team sports during the pandemic.
"We hear from many, many residents every day who are eager to continue playing team sports," Kelli Hintch, Boulder County Public Health COVID-19 recreation and sports liaison, stated in a news release. "We wanted to make sure folks have the information they need to make informed choices about their risk, as well as the requirements they need to follow to keep everyone healthy and safe.”
Under the state Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors Public Health Order, organized sports are permitted, as long as precautions are followed, according to Boulder County Public Health.
Key points in the county’s guidance are:
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Avoid contact sports; consider individual skills training instead.
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Reduce person-to-person contact during competitions by changing team size or game play.
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Avoid traveling to other communities to minimize the spread of disease to other areas.
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Tournaments are strongly discouraged.
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Masks must be worn by everyone 11 and older for all indoor athletics and for outdoor athletics when 6 feet of distance from others cannot be maintained.
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Spectators should stay home. If there are spectators, they should be at least six feet from others.
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Quarantine is required if anyone associated with the team becomes infected with COVID-19.
