Senior Center reopens to public Monday for walking only

Measures taken to ensure social distancing

Simpsonville, S.C. — The Simpsonville Activity & Senior Center will reopen to the public Monday with limited hours for walking only.

Effective June 8, seniors will be allowed to enter the Senior Center to walk in the gyms Monday-Friday at 8 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 1 - 3:30 p.m. Other than walking, senior programming remains temporarily suspended.

To help prevent further spread of the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019, seniors will be asked to practice social distancing and refrain from entering the Center if they are exhibiting any symptoms of the virus.

Parks & Recreation Director Robbie Davis said a phased-in approach to returning to business-as-usual will help protect the health of seniors while allowing them to once again enjoy their Senior Center.

“Staff has really missed the seniors and are excited to be able to see and talk to them again,” Davis said. “As long as seniors and staff do some basic things like social distancing and washing hands, we’ll move closer and closer to resuming regular senior programming when it’s safe to do so.”

Seniors who wish to use the gyms to walk must first sign a waiver form before entering the Center. Upon signing the form and entering, seniors will be asked if they have exhibited the COVID-19 symptoms of fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing or have come into close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last 14 days.

To maximize social distancing measures, staff will limit the number of people in the City gym to 50 people and Woodside Gym to 30 people. Seniors who wish to wait for space to open if gyms are at capacity can sit in the lobby where chairs will be spread apart at least 6 feet.

Community relations specialist Justin Campbell said the names and phone numbers of seniors who enter the Center will be logged for periods of 15 days in case a senior later reports contracting the virus to facilitate contact tracing; the logs will be properly disposed of at the end of each 15-day period.

“Phasing in senior programming will require teamwork between seniors and staff to keep everyone safe,” Campbell said. “The City wants to continue moving forward, and paying attention to guidelines and recommendations by the CDC and DHEC will keep us on a path to normalcy.”

The City closed the Senior Center March 16 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and reopened the Center to individuals doing business with the City May 18.

City officials will regularly assess conditions and directions from the CDC and state to determine when resuming senior programming is safe.

For more information, contact Justin Lee Campbell, community relations specialist, at jcampbell@simpsonville.com.