The Campus Recreation Center East opened on Feb. 1 after being closed last semester due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

CRCE’s reopening was delayed because Campus Recreation was not immune to the staffing challenges every business in the country is experiencing at this time. They have to have a certain number of staff members to safely operate their facilities. 

Additionally, CRCE has served as a testing site since the campus began offering the PCR test to students, faculty and staff. It also served as a vaccination and booster site and as a community testing site for anyone five and older.

Jessica Gentry, associate director of the division of Campus Recreation, stated in an email that each of the testing sites took up more and more space in the facility. Even if they had been able to open, it would have severely impacted what spaces would have been available.

The testing facility has been moved out of the main gym and some rooms are no longer being used for vaccinations and boosters. CRCE was able to return two of the three spaces to normal activities and was able to build their staff up to a number where they could support a safe space for opening the facility. 

Many students who live near CRCE were frustrated they couldn’t do their daily activities near home and that they had to go all the way to the Activities and Recreation Center near Memorial Stadium.

Eileen Goodman, junior in Information Sciences, says she was very glad that she doesn’t have to walk all the way to the ARC to work out, especially in the winter. However, she is skeptical whether CRCE will close again anytime soon. 

CRCE will likely revert to their pre-pandemic practice of one facility being closed during break periods. But other than that, they plan for the facility to be operational. 

“I think if we’ve learned anything over the last two years, we can’t say anything with absolute certainty,” Gentry said. “That being said, I can say it is not our intent to close the facility for any extended period again.”

CRCE will be closed on the weekends and will have limited hours of operation compared to the ARC. The hours are shorter because while they are at a level where they can support the facility being open, they are still not at a pre-pandemic staffing level that would allow them to return to the normal hours of operation.  

CRCE employees are promoting safe facility space for students to use by consistently enforcing COVID-19 policies and cleaning the equipment thoroughly. Staff also check building status in the Illinois app upon entry to ensure anyone entering is in compliance with campus vaccination and testing requirements. 

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