Tag: ACAC

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Coronavirus News

In brief: Masked melons, summertime sadness, and more

Cooling off in the city’s splash gardens is a thing of the past, thanks to a recent announcement that all Charlottesville pools and spraygrounds will be closed this summer. PC: Ron Paris

Goodbye, summer

Monday is Memorial Day, the traditional start to summer, but this year, much of the city’s outdoor recreation space will be off limits. Last week, Charlottesville Parks & Recreation closed all city pools and spraygrounds for the summer, and canceled camps. In addition, other outdoor facilities, including basketball and tennis courts, picnic shelters, and the Sugar Hollow Reservoir, will remain shuttered until further notice. In Albemarle County, all swimming lakes will be closed, along with playgrounds and ball fields.

“Our decision at this point is based on public safety and health, and our staff and keeping our staff safe,” says Todd Brown, Charlottesville Parks & Rec’s interim director. Where parks are open, both the city and county will employ monitors to ensure visitors are social distancing.

Under Phase One of Governor Northam’s reopening plan, which began May 15, pools are allowed to open for lap swimming, and private facilities like ACAC and Fry’s Spring have done so. But city and county officials say the decision to keep public pools closed has to do with staffing.

“We don’t have a year-round staff for lifeguarding, and so it’s really difficult to recruit seasonal lifeguards when we don’t know when they would be able to start work,” says Emily Kilroy, the director of communications and public engagement for Albemarle County. Brown noted that the city did not start training lifeguards in March, as it usually does, and that carried weight in the decision.

“With things being delayed in terms of the different phases…that uncertainty, it goes against being able to plan on how to open and operate pools so that you’re keeping people safe,” says Brown.

Amy Smith, assistant director of the county’s Parks & Recreation department, says “park ambassadors” will be stationed at the county’s swimming lakes this summer, to make sure no children make their way into the water. But how to keep kids with no other options for cooling off away from other, unguarded bodies of water—like the Rivanna River—is less clear.

“We know that there is going to be a reaction to this action, and that could also cause negative impacts elsewhere,” says Brown. “And we are concerned about that, too.”

______________________

Quote of the Week

“I am hopeful that our students will be back in the classroom this fall.”

—Governor Ralph Northam, at a press conference on Monday. (So are we, Ralph. So are we.)

______________________ 

In brief

Sour grapes

Listening to the President these days, you’d think the pandemic is over. But don’t tell that to Charlottesville’s Trump Winery, which soft-opened this week behind a set of complicated social-distancing requirements. While Trump has famously declined to wear a mask in public, they’re mandatory for servers at his winery, and recommended for guests.

Budget bristles

City budget officials have their work cut out for them, as staff projects a $5.4 million loss in revenue this year. That’s made some in City Hall grumpy: This week, The Daily Progress wrote a story about the city-county revenue sharing agreement, but City Manager Tarron Richardson (whose job is to talk about the budget) didn’t like the coverage, and said at Monday’s council meeting that he was “too upset to talk about it right now.”   

Seedy suspects

On the evening of May 6, two people walked into a Louisa Sheetz wearing unusual face masks: hollowed-out watermelons with holes cut out for their eyes. According to the Louisa Police Department, the pair committed larceny, though it’s unclear exactly what they took. Police arrested one of the suspects—20-year-old Justin Rogers—on May 16, and charged him with wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol. The second melonhead is still on the loose.

Major makeover

After many years of residents protesting against its dilapidated conditions, Crescent Halls will undergo major renovations starting this fall—but not without a huge price tag. At a May 18 meeting, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced that the project—which also includes the redevelopment and construction of new units on South First Street—would cost $26.94 million for construction, about $4.3 million more than last year’s estimates. To pay the bill, CRHA plans to secure additional funding from the Virginia Housing Development Authority, as well as private donors.

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News

Vertical horizon: Apex helps Charlottesville ‘grow up’

Members of a local upscale fitness club will soon be looking for a place to park.

Apex Clean Energy—a company devoted to developing, constructing and operating wind and solar power facilities—announced plans March 1 to build a new headquarters on Garrett Street to house its 170 local employees who are currently spread out among three offices in town. The seven-story, 130,000-square-foot building will go right atop the downtown ACAC Fitness & Wellness Center’s gravel parking lot.

“We are happy to have Apex coming in as our neighbor,” says Meghan Hammond, senior marketing director of the fitness club. Staff is currently working on ways to “ease parking challenges” during construction.

Though Apex is knocking out the approximately 125-space gravel lot, a new parking garage with more than 380 spaces is included in its site plans, according to Hammond. It’ll also include—no surprise—multiple electric vehicle charging stations.

“Two hundred spaces in the garage will be open for ACAC clients during club hours,” says John Bahouth, senior vice president of administration at the renewable energy company that grew from fewer than 10 employees to 220 in nine years. And of those employees, one in five participates in the company’s incentive program that encourages them to cycle, walk or rideshare to work.

The new headquarters will be designed by architectural firm William McDonough + Partners, and developed by Riverbend Development, which plans to offer 10,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Apex offices will anchor the building and occupy 60,000 square feet.

Apex expects a mid-spring ground breaking with a 24-month buildout. Its goal is for the building to generate its own energy.

“Our exact energy plans are still in process, but we’ll for certain generate energy from solar panels,” says Bahouth. The building is designed with a green roof and its location maximizes natural lighting and fresh air circulation.

Green roofs are partially or fully covered with soil, plants and vegetation, and one has existed atop City Hall and the Charlottesville Police Department since 2008.

Jim Duncan, who works out of the nearby Nest Realty office, calls Apex’s planned addition a “huge net positive.”

He’s an advocate for vertical density downtown. And as a friend recently punned, Duncan says, “Charlottesville’s growing up.”

“There’s always likely to be some consternation about more traffic and more density and the parking that comes along with it, but ultimately I think it’s the evolution of the city’s center,” he adds. “Hopefully it will entice people to walk more and ride their bikes more often.”

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Living

LIVING Picks: Week of August 23-29

NONPROFIT

Splash 4 a Cure 5K

Saturday, August 26

Get your sweat on during a 5K and then jump into a pool party, all for the Ishan Gala Foundation, which supports families of children who have cancer. Free-$45, 7:30-11am. ACAC, 200 Four Seasons Drive. 234-4644.

 

FAMILY

National Dog Day

Saturday, August 26

Bring on puppy cuddles for the family, with glasses of vino for adults. Live music from guitarists Robin Tolley and Gene Temple, and special treats for four-legged family members. Free admission, 2-4pm. Democracy Vineyards, 585 Mountain Cove Rd., Lovingston. 263-8463.

 

FOOD & DRINK

Food and wine pairing

Saturday, August 26 and Sunday, August 27

In-depth tastings of current wines paired with a seasonal menu of farm-fresh gourmet small plates. Limit 10 per session; RSVP required. $39, 1pm. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. (540) 923-4206.

 

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Fee Free Day

Friday, August 25

Celebrate the National Park Service’s 100th birthday with free entry into Shenandoah National Park. Breathe in the outdoors and enjoy adventures all day long, whether it’s climbing a mountain or taking a dip in a swimming hole. $25 per car. 1-800-VISIT-SV.

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News

Change of heart: ACAC reverses concealed-carry policy

The idea of ACAC members carrying concealed firearms during vigorous exercise unnerved more than 300 people who signed a petition vowing to quit the club if packing heat persisted. Staff photo

One day after C-VILLE Weekly’s December 14 story about ACAC’s quiet change in policy that allowed concealed-carry of guns—and social media blowing up with outraged members threatening to leave the club if guns were allowed on premises—the fitness center changed its policy again.

“Our primary objective is to create a safe and welcoming environment in the clubs, and the safety of our members and team members will always be our priority,” says an unsigned post December 15 on the club’s Facebook page. “We have made the decision to prohibit guns on ACAC property with the exception of law enforcement and ACAC security officers.”

Erik Braun is an ACAC member who started a petition late December 14 and by the next day had nearly 300 signatures of members who vowed to end their memberships if firearms weren’t banned by December 26. “We believe this is a bad policy that only increases the chance that ACAC members, including children, could be harmed or killed,” it said.

Braun’s reaction to finding out guns were allowed at ACAC was one of “dismay and profound concern,” he says. “Concealed-carry is not a way to make a place safer. It produces inadvertent danger and the chances for an accident increase.”

He says his family has always enjoyed ACAC, but knowing guns were allowed “is a deal-breaker for me.”

Even Braun was surprised by the rapidity of the change in policy and that by December 15, ACAC was thanking members for their feedback and stepping back from allowing them to pack heat while exercising.

Braun had called the club December 14, and says the person he talked to was “courteous” and “quite responsive” but “quite clear that was the policy.” He was put in touch with security director Jason Perry and got a voicemail that left “the accurate perception they weren’t going to change their policy,” he says.

He also wonders why members weren’t notified of the change in policy when it happened over the summer. “It was a fait accompli,” he says.

ACAC member Paula Fallon also was surprised at the speed of ACAC’s response once the story came out. She’d first asked the club about the policy change in November, when another member jokingly asked if she had stepped on a bullet during class, and she learned that a member had open-carried a gun to a meditation class and had dropped it.

“The gun falling out in meditation class probably sealed the deal,” she says.

“I heard it was just crazy Wednesday,” she says. “A busy, busy day answering the phone calls from irate people.”

And while she’s glad the club made the change, she challenges ACAC’s statement that it “appreciated the opportunity to engage deeply in conversation with our members and the community.”

Says Fallon, “It’s not a conversation when it was not publicized when it first came out.” She believes the decision was more money driven. “They’re very bottom line,” she says.

ACAC founder Phil Wendel and Perry did not return phone calls from C-VILLE. In an e-mail, Perry directed a reporter to spokesperson Christine Thalwitz, who declined to comment.

In its Facebook post, ACAC says it will send the revised written policy to its members.

“If they’d been forthcoming,” Fallon adds, “it would have felt very different.”

Categories
News

Concealed-carry rattles some ACAC members

Concealed-carry of guns is now allowed at ACAC, but don’t go open-carrying there. Staff photo

Paula Fallon was barefoot in a class at ACAC in November when she stepped on a small stone. She was taken aback when a classmate asked, “Not a bullet?” That’s how she learned that the downtown fitness facility had changed its policy from prohibiting firearms on premises to allowing concealed-carry.

“It seems like a strange policy change,” she says. “It’s an uncomfortable policy change. And as a parent, I would want to be aware.”

She’s concerned not only that there are children in the facility, but there’s a special needs population—and an area where alcohol is served, she says. With concealed-carry, “that’s a weird combination,” she says.

Jason Perry, ACAC’s security director and a former Navy SEAL and Boston police SWAT member, was hired in January following the mass shootings in San Bernardino. The management “was interested in all the active shooter situations,” he says, and he spent six months evaluating all of ACAC’s 12 clubs.

“We didn’t want guns in people’s faces, but we didn’t want to deny concealed-carry permit holders either,” he says.

Fallon heard a story going around that someone brought a gun into a meditation class.

“It did happen,” confirms Perry. The gun was attached to a fanny pack and when the member stood up, it fell off his pack.

That incident violated ACAC policy on a couple of counts: “Open-carry is not our policy,” says Perry. “Our policy is the weapon has to be on your person. We don’t want to see it.” And that means that a gun should not be left in a locker.

He also points out that people with concealed-carry permits are not allowed to drink alcohol while carrying a firearm, and that they have training in proper use of a gun.

The policy changed this summer, and Fallon says she did get a personal response from the club about her concerns. “Their security person had decided this was the best course,” she says. “That’s a fairly questionable decision.”

ACAC isn’t the only fitness center that allows firearms, however. At Gold’s Gym, says Charlie Mills, “We don’t have any rules against it. Our manager has a concealed-carry permit.”

“We’ve never had to deal with that before,” says CrossFit Charlottesville co-founder Kyle Redinger.

Virginia’s open-carry law has caused consternation in some local businesses, such as Whole Foods, when shoppers spotted a man with a holstered gun in the produce department late last year, according to Slate senior editor and Charlottesville resident Dahlia Lithwick.

Whole Foods’ corporate policy is that no weapons, concealed or openly carried, are allowed on its premises, but local management told shoppers that because Virginia was open-carry, the store couldn’t prohibit packing heat in the produce section, according to Lithwick. A call from corporate headquarters in Austin cleared up that misunderstanding, and by January, a sign at the store’s entrance made clear the store’s gun-free policy.

Back at ACAC, Fallon isn’t the only one who was unaware of the change in procedure. Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding is a regular, and he says he didn’t know guns could be brought in the club.

“I’ve always locked mine in my car,” he says. “I don’t have any reason to bring it inside” while exercising.

“For me, ACAC has been a sanctuary, a place for exercise and relaxation,” says Fallon. “It was a shock. I think I should have found out about it when the policy changed.”

Perry says members will be notified in literature going out soon, and that few fitness centers spend the money to train staff to deal with active shooter situations—or CPR—as ACAC does, because member safety is its first priority.

“No one believes that a sign that says ‘no firearms’ stops a bad guy with a gun,” he says.

Categories
News

Tom Garrett on job creators tour

Phil Wendel and Tom Garrett don't break a sweat at today's ACAC tour. Staff photo

Congressional candidate Tom Garrett is back in Charlottesville today a week after he debated Dem Jane Dittmar at the Senior Center. The two are vying for the 5th District seat currently held by Robert Hurt, who decided not seek a third term.

C-VILLE caught up with Garrett, a state senator, at ACAC, where owner Phil Wendel, a reliable political contributor who usually leans Republican, showed him around the facility.

“We’re meeting job creators,” says Garrett, who notes that Wendel employs between 700 and 800 people in the Charlottesville area.

“What we’re constantly hearing is that the regulatory climate keeps businesses from doing things that create jobs,” says Garrett. Earlier at Gaston & Wyatt, he says he was told its owner spent between six and seven hours a week complying with OHSA.

He points to Lane Furniture in Altavista, which closed its doors because of the burden of meeting OHSA and EPA regulations for safety and health, according to Garrett. Lane had been in business for nearly 100 years, he says, “with no history of Lane employees getting hurt.”

flanna & tom garrettGarrett’s wife, Flanna, is campaigning with him, and said she could beat her husband in tennis, an assessment with which he disagreed. The couple resides in Buckingham.

Next on the job creators tour: gun store Woodbrook Sports and Floors R Us.

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News

Cheer leader: 48-year-old tries out to be a Saintsation

ACAC trainer Gina Ostarly, No. 14, auditioned for the Saintsations April 17. Had she made the team, she would have been the oldest cheerleader in the NFL. Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr.

One local woman proved that age is only a number when she auditioned for the New Orleans Saints’ official cheerleading team, the Saintsations, April 17.

A personal trainer at ACAC and a New Orleans native, 48-year-old Gina Ostarly spent last Sunday performing a choreographed dance routine on the Saints’ practice field at its team headquarters in Metairie, Louisiana. Though she was cut before the final auditions, she’s thankful for what she calls an empowering experience.

“I think it’s important to never leave this world with regret,” Ostarly says. “There are so many things that we don’t do just because we’re scared of failing.”

Auditioning is a five-step process, and after registering and attending optional workshops, each woman gathered last week for the preliminary tryouts. Ostarly says roughly 100 Saintsation hopefuls tried out for the team, which is fewer than the 200 who usually come out. Cuts were made during the first day of auditions, and the list of ladies who were selected to move on was posted by the end of the night.

“I was, of course, disappointed that I didn’t get to go on,” Ostarly says, adding that she’s considering trying out again next year, even if just for the same positive experience. For this audition, she hired a personal dance coach last November to help her prepare. After all, she hadn’t cheered or had any formal dance training since she graduated from high school 30 years ago.

Making the Saintsations is about more than just pom-poms and dance progressions, Ostarly says. All candidates who are selected to move past the preliminaries must go through a lengthy interview process with business leaders from the greater New Orleans region and complete a written football knowledge test as part of the semifinal auditions.

So, although Ostarly says loving football is in her blood, she made flash cards to help her memorize each NFL conference, division and team. She was also prepared to list which teams won the past five Super Bowls and where each Super Bowl was located, how many players are on the field at one time and their various positions, coaches’ names and key players.

If selected for a final audition, the cheerleaders perform a routine in small groups and are evaluated on technical skills, overall dance performance and speaking skills. Before a candidate introduces herself at the preliminaries, she has already turned in an application that consists of a résumé, personal essay, letters of recommendation and references.

“It’s been time-consuming,” Ostarly says. In her personal essay, she wrote about her passion for football and the city of New Orleans, and said that though her cheerleading experience is limited, as a personal trainer she cheers on her clients in every session.

If Ostarly had made the team, she would have been the oldest cheerleader in NFL history, to her knowledge. However, she says a 68-year-old woman was also auditioning, and a 40-year-old has cheered for the Saintsations in the past. Most NFL cheerleaders are between 18 and 25 years old, she says. And though Ostarly didn’t make the team this time, she says she doesn’t regret the experience.

“There’s never anything to lose,” Ostarly says. “Whether you succeed or you fail, it’s all about the process and you’re going to come out a better person.”