Local gym opening on May 1st despite county ordinance
After six weeks closed, one local gym has announced plans to reopen despite the local mandate ordering fitness facilities to close, citing unfair and unlawful practices by competitors as its reasoning.
Local gym One More Gym announced Saturday via Instagram story it is planning to reopen at 6 a.m. Friday, May 1, four days before Howard County’s current stay-at-home ordinance is set to end.
One More Gym has been shut down since the county ordinance was announced in March and like a lot of small non-essential businesses in Kokomo, they are starting to feel the consequences financially.
One More Gym has eight employees and has been paying them during the shutdown even though membership dues have been paused at the moment, said Haley Cox, wife of One More Gym owner Brian Cox. The employees, who are all hourly, continue to be paid their average wages.
Cox said she has seen evidence other gyms in Kokomo remain open in secret and her reports to local officials are falling on deaf ears. She said One More Gym is losing members to other gyms that are operating against the county ordinance.
“That’s all we’re asking for is everything to be fair across the board,” said Cox.
Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman said local officials have been made aware that some gyms are operating in violation of the ordinance, and cease and desist letters have been sent by the Howard County Health Department.
Cox says she is not seeing any changes being made.
Cox told The Kokomo Post during a phone interview Saturday that she has reached out to City, County and State officials about several local gyms still being active but has not seen action from any officials.
Cox said One More Gym is planning on opening at 6 a.m. Friday with these safety measures in place:
1. Open only from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (normally a 24-hour gym)
2. Only 40-50 members in the gym at one time
3. Employees will be required to wear masks as well as have their temperatures checked before coming to work
4. All employees and gym members will not be allowed to enter the facility if they have traveled outside of Indiana in the last 2 weeks
5. No guest or week passes allowed
Cox said she reached out to Wal-Mart to try to gauge how many people should be permitted in the building depending on a square foot ratio. One More Gym’s building is a 25,000-square-foot facility, which led Cox to the gym’s decision to allow 40-50 people in the facility at a time.
Wyman said the county would follow the process of calling the business first, then sending a cease and desist letter, and if those options don’t work, law enforcement will intervene.
“Everybody wants Howard County to be open, including us,” Wyman said. “We just have to make the best decisions until then.”
Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore said the situation continues to evolve, but he is hopeful gyms and other nonessential businesses will be able to reopen soon.
“We will find out more this week,” Moore said, adding that with the recent spike in positive cases in Cass County’s Tyson Foods plant, Howard County may see a swell in the coming days. He said roughly 200 employees from the plant, which is seeing about 60% of its employees test positive, reside in Howard County.
What do you think, Kokomo? Do you think gyms and other businesses in Howard County should be open for business? Let us know in the comments below.
-Kokomo Post staff reports