At the start of Winter term, the UO Rec Center was completely closed. Now, the Rec is beginning to operate closer to the way students remember it before the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with these fast-paced adaptations, Rec staff and student gym-goers feel confident that safety is a top priority at the Rec.
“I was just a little worried at first, honestly, but seeing how mindful most of the people are, and seeing how the Rec staff has been working towards trying to keep it safe for everybody and enforcing rules, I think it’s definitely made me feel a lot safer,” Sharon Sherpa, a sophomore who works out at the Rec six times a week, said.
The University of Oregon Rec Center shifted from outdoor “playground” operations and opened its doors to UO students on March 1, following Lane County’s move into the “high risk” category. Lane County, and the UO community in particular, saw a surge in COVID-19 cases following winter break, which put it in the “extremely high risk” category. Since then, cases have been in a fairly steady decline. While this is promising, Assistant Director for Operations Al Diaz said the Rec staff has to be ready to change operations on a moment’s notice.
“It has added a lot of pressure to be able to adapt quickly to last minute state/county guidelines in order to be in compliance,” Diaz said in an email.
These adaptations include capacity changes, cleaning and sanitation guidelines, Rec class operations and more. Currently, the Rec is open for classes and individual workouts by appointment. Students can sign up for a 60-minute time slot through the Rec’s online registration portal or through the UO PE and Rec mobile app. In between time slots, a facilities and operations team disinfects equipment, furniture and facilities using “ionized sprayers,” according to the Rec website.
For students and Rec employees alike, a primary concern is ensuring that students follow guidelines during their workout.
“A significant concern about in-person opportunities in the Rec involved the understanding and compliance by our staff and Rec users of the Oregon Health Authority statewide mandated guidance, and our staff needing to educate Rec users on the policies, and then enforce the policies,” Rec Center Director Lynn Nester said in an email.
Students must wear masks at all times and are encouraged to wipe down their area after use. More stations with towels and disinfectant spray have been placed throughout the Rec since its reopening. Lawrence Sugatan, a UO student and operations attendant and customer service specialist at the Rec, has found that students make use of the stations.
“Before COVID, we wouldn’t be going through our rags and our detergents as quickly,” he said. “We’ve noticed that we’ve had to change them a lot quicker, so people are cleaning and respecting the Rec and their spaces.”
Sherpa said she has seen a couple people take masks off at the gym, but feels that Rec staff do a good job of monitoring the space.
Sugatan, who monitors and enforces these rules in his capacity as operations attendant, said he doesn’t have much trouble with the mask mandate, “just a couple per shift.”
Even so, some students prefer even more monitoring. Taylor Hurt, a sophomore who took a weight lifting class winter term and is currently enrolled in a cycling class, said she feels even safer being in a more controlled class environment.
“I really like that the PE classes have sectioned off areas and the entire room gets cleaned in between each class, which kind of calms some of my worries around the spread,” she said.
While Diaz feels that “the biggest change for culture at the Rec has been that this place went from a place to gather and be social to a place where people come and go to attend a class or get a workout in,” Sherpa and PE instructor Corrine Bell feel that the social aspect has evolved.
“I guess it is kind of nice because I do see a lot of my friends there in the morning, as well, friends that I normally wouldn’t be able to see during the day,” Sherpa said. “Just because of class schedules and COVID, we’re all going to be indoors.”
“My students are respectful of the COVID rules and appreciate having an in-person class where they can come together, work hard and feel safe with other Ducks,” Bell said.
Moving forward, Rec operations will likely not change much. Nester said operations will not change as long as Lane County remains in the lower or moderate risk levels. If the county moves up to high risk, fewer reservable slots would be available; and if it moves up to extremely high risk, operations would “change significantly,” Nester said.
Nester said that in the past 13 months, “at times it was difficult to keep up with it, but in the end, to provide recreation opportunities for UO students was well worth it.”
