The Hopkinsville Parks and Recreation Department and the local YMCA have both taken steps to follow new guidance from County Health Director Kayla Bebout, who released a statement Wednesday that calls for a 10-day suspension of sporting activities and some other community events to help curb the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the city announced it would return to virtual online meetings for Hopkinsville City Council and Committee of the Whole.
Bebout’s request to curtail gatherings is in response to the county’s critical level of coronavirus spread.
“The Parks and Recreation Department is in the process of closing down facilities and postponing or rescheduling events and activities, in accordance with (Wednesday’s) Christian Co. Health Dept. community update and recommendations,” Recreation Director Tab Brockman said in response to Hoptown Chronicle’s request for the city’s plan.
Brockman added, “This includes playgrounds, pavilions, restrooms, Sportsplex, Thomas Street Center, and the skate park. We will keep the rail-trail, dog park and walking trail at Tie Breaker Park open for walking, jogging and biking. Restrooms at the North Drive Trail Head and the Dog Park will remain open. The Sportsplex and Thomas Street Rec Center will be open for walkers only. The Sportsplex will be open from 8a-noon weekdays for walking only and will be closed Saturday and Sunday.”
Recreation facilities and activities will remain closed until the health department’s recommendations are lifted or updated, he said. Additional information is available in a news release from Parks and Recreation.
Bebout’s guidance says certain activities should be suspended through Oct. 2.
The health department’s release included the following:
Effective Sept. until noon on Oct. 2:
- If possible, only have one family member per household enter a business
- That places of worship find alternative means of worship to promote social distancing and prevent congregate gatherings.
- Discontinue any extracurricular activity and sports for all ages (including community and school).
- Discontinue social and community events for all ages.
- Limit visitors to hospitals and long-term care facilities, unless end of life care.
- Refrain from social get-togethers, sports parties, block parties, backyard gathering, bingo parlors, pool halls, etc.
Hopkinsville YMCA President Sheryl Ellis said the local agency will also follow Bebout’s requests by postponing the youth soccer and flag football programs through Oct. 2.
She said practices will resume after noon on Oct. 2 and games will resume after fall break on Saturday, Oct. 10.
“Our soccer and flag football programs were planned under guidance of the Kentucky YMCA Alliance and the Kentucky Youth Soccer Associations,” Ellis said. “Strict protocols for the programs include masks, handwashing and sanitizing stations on the fields, disinfecting of all equipment and the fields, no benches or bleachers, and social distancing.”
Ellis added, “The Hopkinsville YMCA’s main priority is for the safety of our kids, families and the community.”
Hours after Bebout announced the health department’s guidance in a news release, a spokesman for Christian County Public Schools said the district would not comply with her requests.
Wednesday night, the district released this statement: “We are staying the course with both extracurricular school activities and in-school instruction per CCPS board decisions and what our data reflects.”
In another announcement, Alissa Keller, executive director of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, said tonight’s History on Tap program at Hopkinsville Brewing would be postponed “to honor the Christian County Health Department’s call to discontinue social and community events through next Friday.” The next History on Tap is scheduled for Oct. 22.
Meanwhile, the city’s decision to return to virtual online meetings is “substantially due to our community’s current upward trend in COVID-19 positive cases and our responsibility to limit exposure through close contact as much as possible,” spokeswoman Nikki Durham said in a news release.
City council and Committee of the Whole meetings will continue to be streamed live online at hoptown.org/tv.
“Mayor Wendell Lynch encourages the public to continue to practice safe social distancing, avoid gatherings as much as possible, wash hands often and for at least 20 seconds, and always wear a facial covering in public,” Durham said.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
