Eastlink Centre (photo by Shaun Penner)

By Shane Clausing

moving into Stage 2

Eastlink Centre to re-open June 14 as Alberta moves into Stage 2

Jun 10, 2021 | 12:39 PM

The Eastlink Centre will re-open its doors to the public on June 14, as the province moves into Stage 2 of Alberta’s Open for Summer Plan.

In previous re-opening phases, the Eastlink Centre only opened certain activities up to the public.

However, this time around, more amenities and activities will be available for the public.

“We’ll have the fitness centre and track available, we will (also) have squash and racquetball, as well as lane swimming,” explained Angela Redding, the General Manager at the Community Knowledge Campus.

“The leisure side of our public splash and play will (also) be available and we’ll be finishing off some of the swimming lessons we had previously booked.”

The following amenities and activities will be open starting June 14 in the following timeslots:

• Fitness Centre
  • Bookings up to 90 minutes
  • Monday to Friday: 5:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Track
  • Bookings up to 90 minutes
  • Monday to Friday: 5:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Squash & Racquetball
  • Bookings up to 60 minutes
  • Monday to Friday: 5:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Saturdays: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Lane swimming
  • Bookings up to 60 minutes in 50m or 25m pool
  • Monday to Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. to 8:15p.m.
  • Saturday: 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Public Splash and Play
  • Bookings up to 90 minutes
  • Saturday: 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Swimming Lessons
  • Previously registered swimming lessons running as scheduled.

This time around, drop-ins will be available, however, due to capacity limitations, Redding highly recommends that people book their space in advance at the Eastlink Centre website.

“It’s not the free-flowing traffic we are used to. The difficulty with this is we are operating at one-third of our fire code capacity, so in order to stay within those limitations, we are asking people pre-book so you aren’t disappointed when you do show up.”

Timeslots will be made available from June 14-25, with future dates being added incrementally.

The Eastlink Centre says it will release more details on fitness classes, fieldhouse usage for drop-in sports and activities, hot tubs, FlowRider, steam room and sauna at a later date.

The Coca-Cola Centre will also be open for all user group bookings starting June 14.

The COVID-19 membership rates will also remain in effect at Eastlink Centre for the time being.

Redding tells EverythingGP they’re excited to welcome people back.

“Everybody here at the Eastlink Centre is so excited to see our community come back into the facility. It’s been quiet, so we are looking forward to hearing some of the laughter and giggles that come with recreation. The opening and closure does impact our community and we are really excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”