SF Gate:
If you were planning to boogie down to the Church of 8 Wheels this weekend, don’t lace up those skates just yet.
Just four days after its highly anticipated reopening — which was expected to take place in November but was delayed until last weekend — the abandoned-church-turned-roller-disco venue was forced to close its doors to the public once again.
“We thought we took care of every safety precaution,” David Miles Jr. wrote to SFGATE in an email, noting that he had taken extensive measures to limit the venue’s capacity to 30 skaters per session – 10% of its usual intake in the 6,000-square-foot rink — in addition to cutting down those session times to two hours instead of the usual three.
“We put up plastic barriers for the workers to be safe. We spent thousands on surgical level UV-C air scrubber machines and skate sanitizing systems.” But it wasn’t good enough, he said.
On Tuesday, the Church of 8 Wheels received a letter from the City stating that the venue was in violation of the state’s stay-at-home order, requiring it to close until San Francisco enters the yellow tier of California’s COVID-19 reopening plan, when businesses like bars will be allowed to reopen indoor capacity at 25%.
Indoor roller skating venues are considered family entertainment centers and fall under the category of arcades, bowling alleys and escape rooms (rather than gyms and indoor fitness centers, which have been allowed to resume operation with modifications since the city entered the orange tier.)
As such, the Church of 8 Wheels will have to wait a bit longer to recommence business.
