Surrey residents eager to use community recreation centres like they did in pre-pandemic times best not hold their breath.
Councillor Steven Pettigrew asked city staff at the June 29 council meeting when Surrey’s libraries and recreation centres will be opened again.
“They have all sorts of temporary solutions but I’m looking for the final answer,” he said. “When’s your best guess for that?”
City Manager Vincent Lalonde replied that the city expects to re-open the libraries and recreation centres in stages starting this fall.
“Fully open – that means the same programs that we had before, and all the safe participation – that is likely only at the end of the COVID pandemic,” Lalonde said. “Just to clarify, we have been re-opening, and it’s called cautious re-opening.”
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For example, the outdoor pools are open, but not to the extent they were before. They are currently operating at 20 per cent their regular capacity.
“So if your question is when is the rec centre going to be fully open, with the same crowds we had before, it’s not anytime soon,” Lalonde said.
The city is looking at a “phased” re-opening of recreation centres starting in the fall “if conditions stay the same.”
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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