SLSFSC temporarily closes its doors

COCHRANE— The Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre has had to temporarily close its doors once again due to the public health guidelines in place as the province aims to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Sales and marketing manager with Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre Michelle Everett said the move was disappointing, but not unexpected.

“With our booking system and keeping people apart, we’ve had a lot of success here, keeping people coming, and active and safe here. We’re confident in what we’re able to offer the public, but we had a feeling that we would be included in the lockdown,” she said. “When the news came about shutting down our centre, for sure we’re all very disappointed.”

The Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre has had a good track record when it comes to containing COVID-19. With strict contact tracing measures, mask use and social distancing, even when a positive case has been identified at the facility, there has been no mention of community transmission.

While that may be the case, Everett said, the closure is for the greater good and is just hoping to see the doors open once again to the public.

“When we’re allowed to offer our services to the community we do, and if we can’t we just have to understand that it’s for the greater good of the community,” Everett said. “We hope this works, and that we can get the kinks out now so that we can open up again. At this point, we just need to follow the guidelines and the directions.”

Everett said the team at the Spray Lake Family Sports Centre is looking forward to reopening the doors, and considering their options, like moving many of the fitness classes outdoors, which was a popular move last summer.

They are still planning to offer summer camps, and registration remains open for youth programming. Should they be cancelled anyone registered will receive a full refund, she said.

“I would like to think we can get back to offering what we’re currently offering, so no big changes, it just depends on what we can offer,” she said. “Being that it’s summer we can do a lot of outdoor programming. It was very successful having our fitness programs run outside, people were liking that.”

There are a host of other businesses in the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre which remain open to the public including, Cochrane Physiotherapy, Patsy’s Place, Jugo Juice, Kumon Child Learning, Inspiring Minds and Christopher Robins Childcare.

For future updates on programming and special events, keep an eye on slsfamilysportscentre.com/.