Medicine Hat dance, fitness studios concerned about possible future shutdowns

He is just one of many dancers in the city who are happy dance studios are not included in the list of targeted measures here in Medicine Hat.

Dance, group fitness, and team sports have been ordered to close for two weeks in other cities across the province including Lethbridge, Red Deer, Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Grande Prairie.

Dance and group fitness has also been ordered to shut down temporarily in parts of B.C. and Ontario.

On Friday, it was announced that Medicine Hat is under an enhanced status.

But finding out if fitness facilities were supposed to close was a bit of a scramble, according to some fitness facility operators.

” We were really confused. We all listened to the report on Thursday and we were super excited to know that we wouldn’t have to close but that several other areas would and then Friday we were looking online and we realized we were now in the enhanced zone and we thought we had to close and then it said we didn’t.. It’s very confusing,” said Hit The Floor Dance Studio owner Ashton Breton.

The confusion was shared over at Badlands Fitness. The 14,000 sq foot multi-purpose facility, equipped with rock -climbing and a variety of fitness programs was supposed to have its grand opening this weekend but they decided to press pause for the interest of safety.

” We plan to still have the same grand opening that we were going to have this weekend (in a couple of weeks). It is just unfortunate but I think for the safety of the people in our community that we need to just take a step back, make sure that we are abiding by all the mandates, and the regulations, and hit the reset button here a little bit to get ourselves dialed in, and we will be ready for the public hopefully in a few weeks from now,” said owner of Badlands Training Centre, Brendon Hamilton.

While fitness facilities like dance studios in the city are still allowed to operate, there is
still growing concern that they could be in for another shutdown.

“I do assume based on what’s happened in other provinces that we will be forced to close again, which is really disappointing,” said Breton.

Another shutdown, Breton said could be devastating, especially for children.

” They are finally getting comfortable again, they are starting to feel like life is a little bit normal and I think if dance is taken from them again, we are going to see some repercussions there. My own son in the first lockdown became very depressed and he was not alone there. There were so many kids, so many parents, contacting me, they weren’t sure how to get their kids through it, and if it happens again it is going to be worse” Breton said.

Breton boldly remembers the first week of classes following the shutdown and described it as an emotional rollercoaster.

” So many kids after their first couple of classes were just crying and we couldn’t figure out why, and it was just, they were so happy and that’s what the kids said to me they were just so happy that they could come home,” Breton said.

With fitness facilities aiming to promote good mental and physical wellness, it leaves some in the industry feeling unfairly targeted with the prospect of additional closures.

“I feel like we are doing everything in our power to make sure that our kids are safe here and it doesn’t make sense to target children’s activities when you can still get out and get a drink, you can still go out grocery shopping, ” said Breton,

” I’m sure everyone in this community physically, mentally, there’s been a lot of damage done in 2020. The economy needs to be open and it doesn’t, as a small gym owner,I would say that the way that it is laid out, you know that some of the bigger business and franchises stay open, it doesn’t really feel fair,” Hamilton said.

Breton and Hamilton are not alone. Fitness studio owners across the country have been pleading with the government to stay open, to help support the mental and physical health of their users, like 13-year-old Austin, during the pandemic.

” The kids, they can’t take another loss. They just can’t” Breton said.

by Tiffany Goodwein

Medicine Hat dance, fitness studios concerned about possible future shutdowns

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