EAST HANTS: The East Hants Sportsplex has issued the following statement, Oct. 3, to its user and clients after parents of some minor hockey players posted online that no parents were allowed in. As the Sportsplex statement indicates, it is because of protocols from the province.
“Since March 17, 2020, the world has experienced a dramatic change in how day to day life is lived. Residents of our community have found it just as challenging and devastating with many families, organizations and businesses struggling to
figure out how to live, survive and adapt to the effects Covid – 19 has had on us.
“For the East Hants Sportsplex it has been no different, on March 17, 2020 we were forced to shut down our facility and quickly found ourselves realizing zero revenue and still many liabilities. We were forced to lay off 75% of our staff and
prepare the facility for shut down while still incurring many expenses.
“As the summer progressed things slowly re-opened, and we like many of our users were excited that we could explore the possibility of having hockey for the fall.
“EHMHA reached out to us in August and together we created a plan to get kids back on the ice. Due to the financial impact from Covid – 19 the EHS realized we would not be able to operate both ice surfaces for the 2020/21 season. Where IPB is 17 years
newer than KMA and runs approximately 25% more efficiently, management presented the option of installing ice to IPB as the most viable way to ensure we could operate for the 2020/21 season.
“We started slowly with phase I and quickly were able to move to phase II always following the protocols put in place by Dr. Strang and Government of Nova Scotia. It is these protocols that allow us limited number for spectators in IPB. Based on the directive currently in place for indoor events we can have up to 50% of our capacity so long as physical distancing is adhered to and masks worn.
“IPB’s capacity is 220 people but to achieve the physical distancing requirements we lose 12 seats for every 1 occupied. This translates to a maximum spectator capacity of 18 for the IPB arena.
“We certainly empathize with our users and clients and understand that the changes are not always easy to interpret but can assure you we communicate regularly with the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Service Effectiveness of Nova Scotia to ensure we are following the required protocols. All users of the facility are bound to follow these protocols and there are no exceptions at this time.
“As soon as these directives change the EHS looks forward to opening up to more people.”
The good news is Nova Scotia and the Atlantic bubble has succeeded in reducing the spread of Covid – 19 by following the rules. The last thing the EHS wishes is to have a case or out-break here in the community because of
contraction at the EHS.
“Our priority is and will remain to create the safest and most viable opportunity for our community to use the EHS.”
