The Planters Bank-Jennie Stuart Health Sportsplex will reopen Monday, Feb. 1, on a limited basis with “strict” COVID-19 requirements, including mandatory masks in some cases.
“We are beyond appreciative for the patience and understanding of our guests and supporters during the past few months,” sportsplex coordinator Tony Henson said in a news release. “The health and safety of our visitors is paramount, which is why we will take and have appropriate measures to responsibly resume more activities.”
The sportsplex has been closed to group activities since Nov. 9, when Hopkinsville Division of Parks and Recreation officials suspended most indoor activities because of the coronavirus spread in Christian County.
At that time, the county’s coronavirus incidence rate was 29.8. The incidence rate on Tuesday was 50.3 after declining from a record high of 101.8 on Jan. 9. The incidence rate is the average number of daily cases of COVID-19 for the past week, adjusted for a population of 100,000. Public health officials track the incidence rate because it shows how much a disease has spread in a community.
Hours at the sportsplex will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Masks will be required for open gym guests at all times. However, masks won’t be required for active participants in practices, rentals and sportsplex-sanctioned league games, marketing and events coordinator Chris Jung told Hoptown Chronicle. If necessary, the sportsplex can track and trace athletes from those activities, he said.
Under Kentucky’s Healthy at Work requirements, fitness centers may not exceed 50% capacity. The sportsplex, with a capacity of 1,997, will remain well under that requirement “by putting in place limits that will easily meet that criteria,” Jung said.
Sportsplex party rooms, with a capacity for 71 guests, will be limited to 25 when the facility reopens. Crystal Staley, a spokeswoman for Gov. Andy Beshear, confirmed for Hoptown Chronicle that requirements for the sportsplex party rooms “would fall within venues and event spaces, which is 50% capacity” rather than the state’s guidance on social gatherings.
“Masks will still be required for party room usage, while guests are not eating and/or drinking,” Jung said.
Safety measures at the sportsplex will include:
- Temperatures will be checked at the door upon any entry
- Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 or higher will not be allowed to enter
- A thorough checklist of verification of non-exposure must be completed
- Signatures will be obtained of all entrants
- Surfaces will be sanitized following activities
- Entrance and exit doors will be identified, and their use will be enforced
- Water fountains will remain off
- Bleacher seating will not be allowed
- Multiple hand sanitizer stations will be readily available
The public should check “Today’s Schedule” on the sportsplex website for open gym availability each day.
Free walking, with no registration required, will continue from 8 a.m. to noon weekdays. Batting and golf cages will be available by appointment as space allows.
No outside tournaments will be scheduled; however, that restriction may be re-evaluated later.
The sportsplex will extend by three months the expiration date of passes purchased before Nov. 9. Day passes ($5) and annual passes ($40) are available on site.
Here are the guidelines for activities at the sportsplex:
General Walking
- Masks must be worn at all times by walkers
Open Gym
- Limited to 10 persons per court
- No spectators
- Masks must be worn by all participants at all times
Rentals/Team Practices
- Limited to 50 spectators per full court or turf space (25 on the half-courts)
- Masks must be worn by anyone who is not actively exercising in the competitive element of the scheduled practice
- Anyone waiting to join in an active scrimmage, etc. must be masked
- Anyone in a general area (red zone portion of the floor) must be in a mask
- Only participants in the practice will be allowed in the gym; no spectators
League Games
- Limited to 50 people per full court or turf space (25 on the half-courts)
- Anyone in a general area (red zone portion of the floor) must be in a mask
- Spectators limited to 2 people per participant, up to the limits allowed by court/field restrictions
- All spectators and non-competitors in the contest, at that moment, must wear masks
- Only the actively-participating athletes and assigned contest officials (referees) in the game, on the court/field at that specific moment, are exempt from wearing a mask/face covering at all times
- Coaches and other club officials must be masked at all times
Party room rentals
- Party room is limited to 25 people
- Masks must be worn at all times when not eating or drinking
More information is available by calling the sportsplex at 270-985-1700.
(This story has been updated to clarify COVID-19 requirements for party room rentals at the sportsplex.)
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.
