Two indoor recreation facilities in particular – Brooklyn Boulders and Urban Axes – are struggling to stay afloat until current COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

By Jessica Sisavath

It was announced that Somerville has moved into Phase 3, Step 1, allowing a few businesses to open, such as yoga, dance studios, and other fitness facilities. On September 8, Tuesday, the businesses that were allowed to open with restrictions would be able to do so. However, two known indoor recreation businesses in Somerville are forced to keep their doors closed – Brooklyn Boulders and Urban Axes.

In July, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced that the state may reopen indoor recreations in Phase 3 Step 1 which has created weeks of missed opportunities for both of these businesses. Due to Somerville’s decision to delay moving along with the state’s reopening plan, an increased number of loss revenue and customers has significantly impacted Brooklyn Boulders and Urban Axes. A chance to take care of the livelihood of their employees and welcome back the community soon seemed unlikely since learning indoor recreations did not fit the city’s reopening plan on September 8.

Urban Axes is a small private company with eight locations in other U.S. cities. All of their locations have successfully opened their doors in other cities however their Somerville location is the last one to open. Since the closing of Urban Axes on March 15, their staff have been unemployed and the business has had to face cancelations or reschedule reservations. 18 out of 30 of their staff at the Somerville location are Somerville residents and are eager to return to work.

The duration of the recreational activity has been reduced to one hour and a half and guests must wear masks during the time provided. Guests can book reservations online and are required to complete an online waiver using a QR code similar to ordering at a restaurant. Staff that will be assisting guests are required to wear masks and follow other newly created hygiene and safety measures that are included in their reopening plan.

Urban Axes’ reopening plan was sent to the Mayor’s Office in July and there was no correspondence for eight weeks. After weeks of silence, asking for feedback and a meeting, Urban Axes was scheduled to meet with the city officials from the Mayor’s Office on September 10. “I still don’t have any agreement from them on what the next steps are after this meeting. I don’t know if they’re going to allow me to open,” Matt Patton, co-owner of Urban Axes explains.

Urban Axes has provided additional precautions to the Mayor’s Office such as excluding the sale of food and alcohol, cutting their capacity space down by 75% from 60 to 24 people, and maintaining a distance greater than 6 ft. in their 7,500 sq. ft. space, allowing six or less people to have 1,000 sq. ft. of space to themselves, with a maximum of four groups allowed in their facility. “I’ve gone to the city and said, let me do one group of 10 people and the city has said no, that’s not acceptable. So we couldn’t have 750 square feet per person.”

Although a strong reopening plan has been presented, an answer from the mayor must be given. Urban Axes’ competitors outside of Somerville have been opened and are attracting their customers. They will continue to push to reopen if the silence from the city continues with a possibility of a filing formal complaint. “It’s been incredibly frustrating to have the city refuse to talk to us and deny us due process.”

Brooklyn Boulders have remained closed facing similar issues. With a large facility, pre-covid 1,000 people checked into their facility on a regular basis. A decrease in revenue in the past few months has piled up as they complied with state restrictions to shut their doors in March. Their 100 staff members and additional fitness contractors have been unemployed, 20 of them moved away from the city due to the overall impact of the coronavirus. Cleaning staff, youth staff, front desk, skilled team members, and managers have been left with the uneasiness of the city’s decision to further delay the reopening for their indoor rock climbing facility.

The wait to hear responses from the city to reopen is a continuous struggle and the preparation that needs to go into training the employees with an estimated date has been unreasonable. A continuous significant amount of lost time and revenue has been unnecessary for Brooklyn Boulders as its competitors across Massachusetts opened their facilities in July. The initial number of memberships have decreased from 3,000 before March for a number of reasons including cancelations and members other climbing gyms outside the city. The facility is also generously working with members on reworking memberships to help keep people invested.

Dan Braun, general manager at Brooklyn Boulders for the Somerville location explains, “We’re not being told of the metrics that they’re using to evaluate the situation, we’re basically left totally in the dark.” Dan was also set to meet with city officials on September 10, 2020, who were scheduled to walk inside the building, evaluating the precautions they’ve placed. No decisions would be made by the city officials during the visit. Some of the precautions that have been made include placing extra hand sanitizer stations and signs that require all to wear masks once a guest walks in the facility, plexiglass that separates the front desk from guests, contactless check-ins, and floor markings to maintain social distancing.

At the Brooklyn Boulders in New York and Chicago customers have been satisfied with the cleanliness and safety. Again, the preparation has been made but an answer from the mayor is needed. “What I don’t understand is what does the city of Somerville and local government stand to gain from keeping us closed,” Dan said.

Restaurants, where customers must take their mask off while eating or drinking and other businesses in Somerville with less or as much space have been allowed to open. Customers are to go outside of the city to find the services these businesses can provide that can potentially put the Somerville community at a higher risk. A harsh reality sets in for Brooklyn Boulders and Urban Axes as they fight for the well-being of their business and employees in a continued silence they are receiving from the city to reopen their doors.