These 2 SLO County gyms are operating indoors despite COVID-19 orders. This is why
Kennedy Club Fitness is choosing to operate indoors at its four San Luis Obispo County locations, and urging other local fitness centers to do the same.
That’s in opposition to state orders for California counties in the purple tier of coronavirus restrictions, including San Luis Obispo County.
Sleeping Tiger Fitness and Martial Arts in San Luis Obispo also openly acknowledged Friday that it is operating indoors.
Kennedy Club Fitness decided to allow indoor use in order to maintain members’ health and wellness and help the business survive after months of limited operation capacity and a three-month closure earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Brett Weaver, managing partner of Kennedy Club Fitness.
The company has four locations — in Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo — and all are operating with indoor and outdoor use.
Under California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, businesses including gyms, restaurants, fitness centers and museums are required to operate outdoors only.
Kennedy Club Fitness loses members due to restrictions
Weaver said that forcing Kennedy Club Fitness to be outdoors only would be too much of a financial hardship. He said the gym chain has lost one third of its overall membership, about 5,000 of its normal 15,000 members.
“It’s a really tough time,” Weaver said. “We have been in business 40 years and a major contributor to so many organizations in our community.”
Weaver said the business is following the state’s original guidelines for reopening, with social distancing in mind, while “conducting business as close to normal indoors as we can.”
Kennedy Club Fitness still has some equipment outdoors and several group exercise classes, Weaver said.
“We are urging other businesses to do the same,” Weaver said. “I think businesses have to do what they can to survive. I talk a lot to business owners, especially restaurant owners, and they’re very stressed and feeling the hardship of all this. I honestly don’t know how they’re making it.”
Weaver acknowledged the business has been cited twice by the city of San Luis Obispo already, receiving two separate $1,000 fines, and has weekly inspections from county public health and city officials.
Weaver said Kennedy Club Fitness is worried about further citations and fines, but it’s about doing what it needs to do to weather the economic storm.
He said the gyms can’t operate entirely outdoors because equipment damage and maintenance costs can add up to thousands of dollars.
According to Weaver, Kennedy Club Fitness received some stimulus funding in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic — but that money is drying up, with no imminent economic relief on the horizon, due to stalled negotiations in U.S. Congress.
“I don’t want to have to do what we’re doing, but we’re being put in a very difficult situation and we don’t have a choice,” Weaver said.
By following business reopening guidelines established mid-June, Weaver said Kennedy Club Fitness can ensure that members are working out safely. He said that no known COVID-19 cases having been traced back to its gyms.
How are SLO gyms handling COVID-19 restrictions?
Sleeping Tiger Fitness operator Nathan Zimmerman said his strength, conditioning and martial arts center is operating outdoors, but offering indoor use to those who want it.
“We’re disinfecting our equipment regularly. We’re social distancing during classes and having people wear masks,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman said that the Sueldo Street facility still owes $3,200 of rent each month.
The city of San Luis Obispo has provided $5,000 small business grants to some local businesses.
“They’re trying to help, and I am happy for those businesses who got a grant, but that would only cover rent for a month and a half,” Zimmerman said. “But this isn’t as much about the business as it is about health and wellness. Exercise helps people build up their immune systems. Right now, people are facing challenges with mental illness and there’s more domestic violence. Fitness offers an outlet.”
Ryan Joiner, owner and operator of Athlon Fitness & Performance in San Luis Obispo, said his business is “currently operating outdoors, but as the weather makes that more and more difficult (and hence we lose more and more members) we are considering (indoor use).”
Joiner said a large body of community members that continue to support gyms operating indoors if they are following precautions recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Research and Prevention — “which we are.”
“It is absolutely clear from research and my own anecdotal observations of people who have caught the disease, that the more ‘in shape’ one is the more likely they will have good outcomes after catching the disease,” meaning coronavirus, Joiner said in an email. “It makes no sense to shut down gyms following CDC recommendations for safety.”
Each of the gym owners supports defining gyms as an “essential business” to allow indoor use.
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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