Update from Ballard Health Club – Moving on to Phase 3 of the Reopening Plan
March 20, 2021
Dear Members,
It is hard to believe it has been a year since we first closed our doors because of COVID-19. The last year has been difficult for many. BHC has struggled to keep operations going, but we have survived and are looking forward to the future. Thank you to all that have supported us during this last year.
Last week, the Governor announced that gyms may move on to Phase 3 of the “Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recovery” as of March 22, 2021. The regulations for Phase 3 state that gyms may allow up to 50% occupancy of their fire code limit. Our fire code limit is 176 for the main gym and that would mean our maximum occupancy is 88 for Phase 3. We have been taking a more cautious approach to reopening and as a result, we will be limiting the maximum attendance at 30 to ensure careful distancing for our members.
We will no longer have separate Strength and Cardio Open Gym sessions. Instead, we will be combining the two into a single Open Gym session allowing free access to both the Strength and Cardio areas of the main gym. As of March 21, 2021, all Open Gym sessions will be 75 minutes.
Basic and PLUS memberships will have an increase in the number of allowable visits effective immediately. A Basic membership will now allow a member to book up to 3 visits a week. A PLUS membership will allow up to 4 visits. You may go online and book these sessions by using My BHC from our home page, on our Gym Access web page or by using the MindBody App.
Our cleaning and disinfecting procedures are evolving to have members clean the equipment they are using before and after use. BHC staff do more extensive follow-up cleaning of our overall gym equipment.
As we increase the number of people checking-in to the Club for Open Gym sessions, we are streamlining the check-in process. We now ask members to self check-in with our bar code scanners just like they did pre-COVID. Our new face temperature system checks the member’s temperature at check-in. Members that joined BHC during COVID will be given a BHC membership card starting next week. All members may create and use our eCard system to put their membership “card” on their phone at www.ballardhealthclub.com/ecard. If you have lost your membership card and do not want to use the eCard system, we can easily make you a new one at the front desk.
Last month, we worked with a company that created a “Google Street View” of the inside of the Club. Here are the results of that project > Ballard Health Club 3D View. This will give you a look at some changes we have done over the past year. Since we could not have in-house classes during COVID, we converted Studio X into additional workout space with a roll-up door. The roll-up door can be closed in the future when there is a class in Studio X. We turned Studio Y into a Personal Training Studio to make the most of that space during COVID. We look forward to having both in-person and on-line classes in the future. Please visit the Live Streaming Classes web page to view the schedule of the current on-line classes.
We are bringing back “Friendly Fridays”. This is where you may bring a friend to the Club or have them join you in a virtual class at no charge on Fridays. Check this out by visiting the Friendly Fridays web page.
Small Group Training is back and can add a nice variety to your workout routine. Check this out by visiting the Small Group Training web page.
With so much moving online during the COVID experience, we now have created a Member Services web page to make it easier to request services such as Freezing, Unfreezing, Canceling and changing your Membership. The menu item for the Member Services page is found under THE CLUB on the BHC web site.
Last, but in no means least, I want to take this chance to send our heartfelt thanks to our outgoing Operations Manager – Adriane Ball. Adriane is moving back to her home state of Ohio and is turning over the reins of Operations Manager to Hattie Quick. Adriane will continue to work remotely for BHC from Ohio with she and Hattie sharing the operations duties. The workload and stress of dealing with all the changes in operations for our health club through the COVID pandemic has been tremendous. This included 2 closures, enormous numbers of cancellations and freezes, and new procedures that changed often. Adriane always met these challenges with an adventurous and cheerful demeanor. During our last closure, Adriane led the project to completely clean, de-rust and clearcoat all of our metal weight plates and bars that were beginning to show signs of rust due to the way we had applied disinfectant. Thank you Adriane! We wish you the best in Ohio!
Everyday, things are looking better. COVID cases are going down and vaccinations are going up. Spring is just around the corner in Seattle and it’s wonderful seeing more and more people coming back to the Club!
Stay safe!
Pat Gilbrough
Owner, General Manager
Ballard Health Club
pat@ballardhealthclub.com