LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Governor Beshear laid out his plan to reopen the Commonwealth Wednesday.
Most notably missing from the governor’s list were gyms, restaurants and daycares. None of those will be able to open in Phase 1.
Governor Beshear said he is hoping for a solution to opening daycares in June. He says gyms could be part of Phase 2 .
Daniel Barnett is the owner of Crossfit The Ville.He says he was disappointed but understanding that gyms are not part of Phase 1.
Barnett says there are so many different types of gyms and they are all being lumped together.
Some gyms have hundreds of members all using the same equipment at the same time. But Crossfit The Ville has smaller classes with a lot of space for people to distance themselves. Barnett says that was something they would use to their advantage if allowed to open in Phase 1.
“We were all set with a reopening policy to allow our members to have classes, to come in but maybe just have smaller classes and more throughout the day,” Barnett said.
Once gyms are able to open, Barnett says they will be distancing people when they workout and sanitizing everything.
He said they are ready to open as soon as they get all of the equipment back from members who borrowed it to use at home during this time.
While Beshear gave a vague timeline for gyms to open, he did not give a timeline for restaurants. Restaurant owners are worried about what that means for the financial futures of their businesses.
“Keeping the restaurant closed is very expensive,” Luigi Gelsomini said.
Gelsomini owns Luigi’s Pizzeria in downtown Louisville. He shut the business down for three and a half weeks, but recently opened back up for takeout.
“The reason why [we reopened] was mostly economical,” Gelsomini said.
He’s seen his regulars stopping in for takeout, but most people usually come to dine in.
Gelsomini has added a plexiglass shield above the sneeze guard covering food to protect both the workers and customers. He believes that kind of glass can be added to tables too.
Gelsomini says as long as capacity is lowered and people are social distancing, he doesn’t see why the restaurant can’t open back up in phase one of the governor’s plan.
“Cause if we don’t, a lot of people like me are going to end up closed for good,” Gelsomini said.
He is trying to keep a positive outlook, doing what he can in the moment. But no matter what, things are going to change.
Luigi’s Pizzeria isn’t alone, restaurants all over Kentuckiana are struggling financially after either closing temporarily or only offering takeout.
►Contact reporter Rose McBride at rmcbride@whas11.com or on Facebook or Twitter.