Colorado Springs business owners react to increased COVID restrictions
On Monday, Colorado health officials said El Paso County must move to “red” severe risk status for COVID-19, effective Friday evening, a change that closes restaurants for indoor dining, and reduces offices and gyms to 10% capacity.
Aaron Kaufman, manager of Accolade Fitness, said the gym would “take 10% over 0%,” referencing the capacity that will be allowed come Friday evening.
“I feel a lot of this was expected — not if, but when,” Kaufman said of the level “red” restrictions. “We were prepared for it. It’s something we’ve been discussing, even before the orange level.”
Kaufman said the gym at 4390 Arrowswest Drive will remain open, through a reservation system required by public health order still needs to be worked out. The gym’s westside location on South 8th Street closed Nov. 15 due to the cost of running two gyms.
“We are local and we are still trying to make it.”
El Paso County’s move to red bans indoor dining at restaurants and limits outdoor dining to groups from the same household. Take-out orders and curbside delivery will still be allowed.
Meredith Klube, business manager at Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub in downtown Colorado Springs, said she was “extremely worried” about the upcoming ban on indoor dining.
“It will have a tremendous impact on our already struggling business,” she said. “With the lowered capacity and the public fears about going out in general, it has already been quite difficult to keep functioning as a business.
Klube said the pub at 21 S. Tejon St. will remain open for takeout and delivery, and continue to serve on its outdoor patio. But it “will likely have to lay off the majority of our staff,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking. It’s terrifying for them, as it is for us.”
“At least in the spring we had the promise of government aid. Right now there is nothing in the near future that looks promising.”
“We will likely need help to even survive ‘round two,'” she said, referencing the statewide stay-at-home order earlier this spring.
The key for Mark Soto, owner of Slow Downz Texas Creole food truck, to keep business going during the pandemic is to be creative, even if that means pulling a trailer behind his Harley to deliver food.
“I think we can be bigger than this and be creative. There’s been a lot of learning curves and we learn as we go,” Soto said.
Slow Downz is also a vendor at COATI Uprise, 514 S. Tejon St., which is a food-hall that provides kitchen pods for cooks like Soto.
He said he closed the food truck for about two months this summer to serve out of COATI, but with Friday’s new guidelines, “it’s in our best interest to open the food truck again, keep the jobs going, and keep our brand going. But most of all for the love of it,” Soto said.
The state health department notified the county of the move, citing high levels of COVID-19 transmission in the community, as well as a high positive test rate and strained hospital capacity in the county, according to a news release from El Paso County Public Health.
Mark Soto, owner of Slow Downz food truck, which specializes in Texas Creole, makes some Po-Boy sandwiches in 2019. Photo by Jerilee Bennett
The Celtic Steps dancers perform during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in 2017 at Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Colorado Springs.
Duane Johnston, right, has gone from being a custom home builder to a gym owner. He now owns the Accolade Fitness. He is photographed inside the gym on Monday, June 2, 2009. The Gazette, Bryan Oller
Duane Johnston has gone from being a custom home builder to a gym owner. He now owns the Accolade Fitness. He is photographed inside the gym on Monday, June 2, 2009. The Gazette, Bryan Oller