Ste. Genevieve County Community Center Joins List Of Closed Facilities In County

With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down schools and businesses worldwide, it was only a matter of time before more businesses in the Ste. Genevieve area were affected.
Valle Catholic High School and Ste. Genevieve High School spring sports have already been postponed until April 6 as of a couple of weeks ago.
While those sports are limited to high school athletes, the Ste. Genevieve County Community Center’s (SGCCC) facilities are open to guests of any age, and the facility also hosts athletic events for multiple athletes of all ages and skill levels.

The Ste. Genevieve County Community Center and Progress Sports Complex parking lots, pictured shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, March 23, were almost complete empty. Due to COVID-19 community center staff announced on Tuesday, March 17 it would close its doors the next day, and the facilities will reopen on April 6 if the situation improves. The tentative date is also the same date Ste. Genevieve and Valle Catholic schools have to reopen their buildings. (Photo by Jason Viox/Herald staff)

But now those facilities are closed for the moment, and subsequent events hosted at or by the SGCCC have been postponed due to COVID-19.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, March 17 by sports director Bryan Gegg, and it will follow a similar closure plan that the schools have in place.
“We initially had some different events canceled,” Gegg said. “It’s a fairly busy time. I’m not really sure going from then on out if we’ll just play it day by day, see what’s going on and make adjustments from there on out.”
The closure also affects the Bloomsdale location.
Some of the events affected by the closure include the Natural Disasters volleyball and Ste. Genevieve Riverdogs baseball tournaments. the 5K Color Run, a Nerf Wars event, the Paddle Battle pickleball tournament, the Taste of Ste. Genevieve fundraiser for Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital, all fitness classes and practices for the Ste. Genevieve Stingrays swim team.
“When it gets to summer it gets a little harder [to make up events],” Gegg said. “We’ll probably continue those come fall time.”
The decision to close the facilities for weeks and postpone or cancel events took some time before the SGCCC leaders made it official.
“Ultimately it would go to Brad [Arnold, executive director],” Gegg said. “He’s been communicating with the county commissioners, and he’s been in contact with the local school districts and local health officials going off of their guidelines on how many people should be meeting, stuff like that. A lot of local area community and rec centers have also been closing. It’s not an easy decision. We don’t want to have to cancel anything. I think we’re a good asset to the community. It’s not something we’re taking lightly or easily to do, but if it helps stop anything, it’s something we’d easily do no matter what.”

See complete story in the March 25 edition of the Herald.