LOCAL

MetroWest, Milford entertainment venues gear up for 'new normal'

Cesareo Contreras
The Milford Daily News
Marion Giammarinaro and Bill Leary pose for a photo at Putts and More in Holliston on Thursday.

Playing a round of mini golf at Holliston’s Putts & More is a little bit of a different experience these days.

As patrons enter the golf course, they are greeted with a sign outlining new social distancing guidelines.

When going up to the counter to buy their tickets, golfers must wear masks. On the 18-hole course, they are prohibited from proceeding to the next hole until the party in front of them has finished. Golf balls and clubs are thoroughly cleaned at the end of each game. Hand sanitizer is also easily accessible and the bathrooms are cleaned after every use and every two hours.

As required by the town’s board of health, these are the policies Putts & More's management has set in place to help minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“Being outside doesn't mean you can throw caution to the wind,” said Marion Giammarinaro, co-owner of the mini golf course.

Putts & More has been open since May 15, after the town’s health agent authorized the establishment to reopen after seeing they had adequate social distancing policies in place and the fact that it has ample space on its 4 acres to keep people apart.

As the country and the state of Massachusetts begin the process of slowly reopening the economy, Giammarinaro is just one of thousands of business owners in the tourism and entertainment industry adapting to “a normal” - where masks become a requirement, establishments limit the number of customers they can serve at a time and more frequent hand washing and surface cleaning become standard.

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As of publication time, the state is entering the third week of its phased reopening plan. As of now, the state is still in Phase 1 of the reopening. Under the state’s new order, hotels, restaurants and retail will be able to open to the public during Phase 2, and businesses in the arts and entertainment industry and bars will be able to open their doors during Phase 3. Each phase is expected to last a minimum of three weeks but could last longer or be kicked back if the number of people with COVID-19 greatly rises. The state has said that it will work with specific groups within each industry to develop specific protocols before entering the next phase.

David Breen, CEO of Pinz Entertainment Group, has been speaking with other entertainment operators in the area, including management at Apex Entertainment in Marlborough, to help develop safety protocols. Breen has a Pinz location in Milford, as well as in Kingston and Hadley. He also has locations in New York and New Hampshire.

“We realized we are in this together, he said. “As much as we are competitors, we all have one common goal and that is to get back open and provide clean, safe fun for our guests.”

He said he is in the process of developing proper cleaning protocols for employees, when it comes to wearing masks and gloves and other procedures.

“We are going to order pre-printed Post-it notes and we are going to place those on anything we’d clean,” he said. “By placing a Post-it note saying it’s been disinfected and clean right there we’ll allow you to know, ‘OK, this table is clean. It's ready to go. Everything has been disinfected.’

It seems Breen has the right idea.

Erin Lynch, executive director of the MetroWest Visitors Bureau, said businesses could team up to help address some of the challenges that come with new social distancing rules.

“If you have businesses nearby that could also be able to accommodate some of those visitors - perhaps create package deals, so instead of having 100 people at your center all at once, maybe you have 50 people at your center and 50 people having dinner next door and it’s a package deal - finding creative ways to work together to stagger the audience.”

And just as businesses are developing new policies to help keep people safe, national data seems to suggest travelers seem to be planning out their trips differently, prioritizing domestic car trips to visit family and friends, rather than grand adventures on the other side of the country or the world, Lynch said.

According to survey data collected by Long Wood International, an American market research firm, in early May, 86% of Americans surveyed who said they plan to travel say they will take a domestic trip after it is safe to travel again. Seventy-four percent of Americans surveyed will be taking those trips by car and 26% by plane.

Twenty percent of those surveyed said they will be traveling within 200 miles to visit family or friends by car, while 19% say they will be traveling to visit family and friends more than 200 miles away by car. Thirteen percent of those surveyed said they would be traveling by plane to do the same.

“We are going to see a lot of businesses re-target their audience to local travelers, as opposed to out of state or international, so we are really rededicating our messaging to attract day trips,” Lynch said.

Lynch said the MetroWest area is poised to take advantage of that market, given its proximity to major cities in the area.

“For MetroWest, I think we are very lucky because we do have such a great geographic location for day-trip travelers,” she said. “People can visit MetroWest and within 45 minutes also see the sites in Providence, Boston or Worcester. I feel we are in a very good position to recover.”

Cesareo Contreras writes about environmental issues and technology for the Daily News. He can be reached at 508-626-3957 or ccontreras@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @cesareo_r.

Going out: What to expect

Hang on to your face masks: Museums, theaters and other entertainment venues may be gearing up to reopen in the next few months during Phases 3 and 4 of Gov. Charlie Baker's reopening plan, but that doesn't mean social distancing rules will go out of the window. On the contrary, face mask use will continue to be a critical step in helping minimize the spread of the virus.

Concerts and gatherings will be smaller: Given how easily COVID-19 spreads, when theater and music venues reopen, the number of people allowed at concerts and other gatherings will likely be reduced. 

Frequent hand washing and surface cleaning: Staff at establishments will likely be required to more often clean surfaces and wash their hands. It's all in an effort to help kill the virus. 

 

Bill Leary rakes leaves at Putts and More in Holliston on Thursday, May 21, 2020.