Gyms and fitness centers have the option of reopening Friday, but as a public space with a lot of shared surfaces and potential for transmission of COVID-19, exercise facilities throughout the valley are taking varied approaches to restarting their machines.

“Our number-one priority is we want everyone to be safe and healthy,” pointed out Stacy Averill, the owner of the new World Gym that opened at the beginning of the year in North Kalispell. Although it might sound counterintuitive, she recognizes that rushing members back into the gym might not be the smartest way to protect athletes’ health.

World Gym Kalispell will reopen on Friday with its normal business hours. Members will see a few changes, like every other cardio machine turned off to keep people separated, face masks at the front desk for optional use and an occupancy limit of half the building’s normal capacity.

But since the gym just opened a few months ago, Averill said they aren’t too concerned about being overwhelmed by big crowds. “We’re so new, we won’t have an issue with that,” she predicted.

She said if membership drastically increases, they may need to readjust their plan to make sure members can social distance adequately. They are offering free memberships for first responders through July 1 and a donation to the Flathead Food Bank with every new membership for about the next month, so she expects the gym to get a little busier than it’s been.

Group classes and the daycare center are currently closed, but everything else the gym has to offer—including showers, a steam room and a smoothie bar—will be “functioning as normal” by Friday, according to Averill. She is aware that spaces like steam rooms might seem like a potential hotspot for spreading the virus, but she pointed out the governor’s guidance does not include any regulations against these facilities, and they only see about one to three people using them per day, anyway.

The biggest focus for the gym right now is just to “trying to make a smooth transition,” Averill said.

At other, more established fitness centers, reopening might be more of a challenge. Fuel Fitness in Kalispell will also reopen on Friday, but General Manager Matt Hurley said, “We have taken some crazy measures in here to ensure everybody’s safety.”

Fuel Fitness will have a limit of 50 people allowed in the gym at a time, even though half of the building’s occupancy would put them closer to 155 people inside at a time. Hurley explained, “We would rather start low and expand it more.”

Members will be asked to go through an onboarding process when they first show up, which will include checking for any possible signs of coronavirus before going to work out. Hurley encouraged members to take precautions like wearing masks, but he said, “I’m not going to go running out on the weight room floor,” to monitor whether these restrictions are being strictly followed.

Every other machine will also be off-limits at Fuel Fitness as well, and some services, such as showers, daycare, group classes and temporary memberships, will be unavailable.

So far, Hurley said members seem to be “pretty respective” of these adjustments and excited to get back into the gym in whatever way possible. He emphasized the goal of all these measures is to make sure, “we can all have a facility to come back to.”

For Dan Hughes, the owner of Access Fitness Kalispell, coming back to the facility couldn’t arrive soon enough. Hughes initially anticipated reopening on May 11 and he was “quite disappointed” to wait until May 15.

“One reason I went through all of this was in an attempt to get members back to their routines and their mental outlet as soon I could,” he explained.

He expressed frustration that establishments such as restaurants, bars and liquor stores were allowed to open before gyms. He noted that Access Fitness has put in place safety measures “at least as strict as have been instituted at any other business,” like limiting the 24-hour gym to staffed hours only and changing its sanitizing formula to a stronger solution. He also said the spacious free weight area naturally allows for 6 feet of social distancing.

And the Evergreen Access Fitness isn’t the only gym that won’t immediately take advantage of the governor’s optional reopening guidance. The Wave, for example, won’t reopen until May 25 while the gym is “making final preparations… to ensure our employees and members will remain as safe as possible during their time in the facility.”

Director Art Krueger elaborated in an email, “This extra time allows us to observe what others in the industry are doing as well as ensure we have all our safeguards in place.”

The final preparations include glass guards between all of the cardio equipment that couldn’t be spaced six feet apart. Employees will also be required to wear masks and complete a health check before their shifts, and a new position known as a “Health Guard” has been added to The Wave’s staff to continually sanitize the facility.

Only members 12 years old and older will be allowed to work out during the initial reopening phase, and amenities including childcare, showers, steam rooms, dry sauna and hot tub will not be available at first.

“We have worked with an advisory group of medical and public health experts on a comprehensive reopening plan that builds upon our already high standard of safety and cleanliness,” Krueger said.

Meanwhile, the Summit Medical Fitness Center in Kalispell has yet to set a specific reopening date. Director of Communications and Marketing Mellody Sharpton said the facility’s role as both a fitness center and a medical facility requires them to be especially thoughtful about allowing members back into the gym.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.