Port Coquitlam gym reopening plan forbids workout partners, limits time, closes change rooms

PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) — It’s going to be a challenge for many businesses as the province kicks in the next phase of reopening during this pandemic, and that is especially true for facilities where you share equipment

Ron Partlow is the co-owner of West Coast Iron in Port Coquitlam.

He tells NEWS 1130 they were practicing similar protocols right before the full shutdown came in March, but he admits that creating more space at his facility has also allowed for some spring cleaning.

“I think we sold ten pieces of equipment, and four treadmills,” Partlow says.

“We had some older stuff in there that we were happy to get rid of anyways because it’s a good time to make some extra space.”

West Coast Iron has shut down the changing rooms for now and has a certain number in mind for capacity rules – the gym has 15,000 square feet of space and Partlow figures they can get 40 people in at one time. They will have a rule where you cannot work out with a partner, unless that partner already lives in your household.

“We are going to enforce distancing between everybody else. So we’re telling people they just have to train separately for now.” Partlow says.

“I spent 16 years in the bar business,” he added.

“I know all about headcounts and how many people are in the room at all times. When this first started we lowered the head count down a couple times, including in mid-March (before the shutdown)”

As far as how long customers can spend in the gym at one time, Partlow told NEWS 1130 that they’ve decided on a 75 minute limit and that most gyms had settled on the 60 minute time frame.

He’s also grateful for their close-knit clientele, as it’s a little bit different than some other fitness clubs which can typically have up to 500 members.

“Our gym, luckily won’t look a whole lot different. We have a big open warehouse concept gym. There’s red tape all over the floor and signs everywhere with hand sanitizers everywhere. We were fortunate that we have a lot of space to work with. We didn’t have to modify it too much.”

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