Coronavirus News

These Dallas-Fort Worth gyms are reopening with new restrictions

Working out at the gym is going to be different for a while.

Courtesy photo

As part of the ongoing reopening in Texas taking place following the coronavirus shutdown, gyms and fitness centers are the next wave, with reopening allowed to begin on May 18, on a limited basis.

Limitations required by the state include measures such as social distancing, with patrons keeping a 6-foot distance. Locker rooms and showers must remain closed.

Here are the area's major facilities and their reopening plans:

Cooper Fitness Center: Reopening May 18
Dallas facility has an extensive list of new procedures for its reopening. Tents and staff will do health screens at entry including temperature reading. Members get a wristband. Masks and gloves are strongly encouraged. A 6-foot physical distance is required. The equipment has been moved to guarantee social distancing.

There will also be a limited group exercise class schedule and capacity, and registration will be required for each class. Basketball lessons and programs, 15-minute core conditioning classes, and water classes are all canceled.

Closed: Locker rooms, showers, whirlpool, sauna, basketball court, and kids area.

Cowboys Fit: Reopening May 18
All three locations — Frisco, Plano, and Dallas — will reopen in 90-minute blocks, followed by 30-minute cleaning sessions.

No walk-ins are allowed. Members must make a reservation for visits and classes. Gloves are required; masks are recommended.

Fitness Connection: Reopening May 18
Fitness Connection's 13 Dallas-Fort Worth locations will reopen with new policies that include extra cleaning, social distancing, and modified hours. Members will have their temperature taken with a contactless thermometer upon entry. Gloves are required; masks are recommended.

Closed: kids club.

Members will not be charged for the month of May.

Larry North: Reopening May 18
Two locations at Preston Center and Solana Westlake will both reopen. The equipment has been moved to promote social distancing. Gloves and masks for members are encouraged but not required.

Life Time Fitness: Reopening May 18
Life Time has nine locations throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, where it has installed a set of safety procedures that include social distancing, extra spacing between equipment, and reservations for fitness classes and for kid spaces.

Masks and gloves are encouraged but not required.

Planet Fitness: Reopening May 18
Planet Fitness has 36 locations across D-FW — 29 of which have opened, with the other 7 opening shortly, as noted on their website. Masks and gloves are allowed, but not required. Some cardio and strength machines will not be available for use to guarantee social distancing.

Texas Family Fitness: Reopening May 18
A dozen locations across Dallas-Fort Worth will reopen with a modified group exercise schedule to fulfill social distancing requirements. Some exercise equipment will be unavailable due to physical distancing measures. Gloves are required; masks are recommended. Members are also asked to bring their own exercise mats.

Closed: The Kids Club.

Members will not be charged for the month of May.

Trophy Fitness: Reopening May 18
All three locations in Uptown, downtown, and Mockingbird will reopen. Every staffer and member will have their temperature taken before entering the facility. Anyone with a cough will be asked to leave.

Equipment has been re-spaced or removed to maintain proper social distancing. Group classes are temporarily canceled. Locker rooms will be open to allow for hand washing and showering.

24 Hour Fitness: Reopening May 18
The chain will open its 21 DFW locations with a phased approach. Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Lewisville, and McKinney will open May 18, and a second batch will open May 25. Members are required to wear masks and bring their own towels. Personal training and group classes will still go on, but under modified schedules. Members must make a reservation for club visits and group classes.

YMCA: Reopening June 1
Seven facilities — Frisco, Rockwall, Moody, Park South, Plano, Semones Family, and White Rock — will reopen with a set of new routines. Members will be asked to self-scan their ID cards to allow for limited contact entry. Gloves and masks are recommended though not required. All classes require reservations.

Open areas inside the Y have been redesigned to help ensure social distancing, including spacing out equipment, alternating treadmill and cardio to every other machine, limiting capacity in the facility, and in classes so everyone has the recommended six feet of space. If capacity is full, members will be asked to wait in designated areas until space is available.

Closed: Locker rooms, and towel service is unavailable.

health

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics