The Henry Crown Sports Pavilion has traded noisy hallways and group fitness classes for a quieter, COVID-19-compliant atmosphere, allowing the facility to remain open so students can continue workouts amid the pandemic.

Following the student quarantine period Wildcat Wellness, Crown Sports Pavilion has reopened to students with modifications, according to Maureen Palchak, associate athletic director of recreation. Students must make reservations — limited to 50 minutes — for specific fitness spaces. The reservation times for different areas in the building are staggered to avoid large numbers of people entering the building at once and overall maximum capacity is reduced. Employees thoroughly sanitize equipment before the next group can enter.

“Every area (within the gym) played a critical role in reopening and (provided) different perspectives in how we would go about doing that,” said Palchak.

Palchak said the equipment in the gym is spaced out by at least ten feet, and any group classes occur on the basketball courts. Crown Sports Pavilion also runs virtual classes, including courses on breath and massage techniques.

Palchak said since there weren’t many students on campus during Fall Quarter, Crown Sports Pavilion staff members were able to do a trial run of safety precautions so as Winter Quarter begins and facility traffic increases, the changes are now routine. Student employees who work at Crown Sports Pavilion completed virtual training during Wildcat Wellness and in-person training after the quarantine period.

“It’s so great to see students back in our building and doing it in a really safe manner, being very respectful and spacing out and wearing their masks and abiding by everything that we feel like is important right now,” Palchak said. “So we’re just really grateful to be open and serving the student population and faculty and staff as well.”

McCormick junior Jane Leff said she has always gone to Crown Sports Pavilion early in the morning or around lunch time, when she thought there would be fewer people, because she doesn’t like to wait for equipment and enjoys the quiet time. Now, the gym doesn’t open as early as it has in previous years. Leff said she pays attention to the amount of people signed up for her reservation time and has noticed an uptick in the number of people in the gym in the winter compared to the fall.

“If they could be open for more hours that would be cool, but I think that they do the best they can,” Leff said. “They disinfect everything every hour and I think that’s super impressive. If they could be open earlier in the morning or later at night that would be good for everyone.”

Weinberg sophomore John Perales has gone to the gym once so far this quarter. Perales said the gym is slightly more crowded than he would prefer, but he appreciates the spacing of the equipment.

“You’re definitely not going to have an ideal system,” he said. “It definitely feels like this is the best they’re going to get when you have something like a gym being open during a pandemic.”

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