12/9/2020
Area gym owners call state mandate ‘ridiculous,’ look to reopen after pause
Owners of gyms such as Planet Fitness, left, are hoping to reopen to the public next week after the state’s two-week pause.
LINCOLN – After a Superior Court judge issued a restraining order against a local gym that remained open despite Gov. Gina Raimondo’s executive order to shut down, other gym owners are saying they hope the state-mandated “pause” doesn’t last longer than two weeks.
Last Friday, Dec. 4, Associate Justice Melissa Long approved the Rhode Island Department of Health’s request for a temporary restraining order against Maxx Fitness, forcing owner Matthew D’Amico to shut down the gym’s locations in Lincoln and Warren. D’Amico had kept the locations open despite an executive order from Raimondo ordering a two-week “pause” on business between Nov. 30 and Dec. 13.