BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Full Blast Recreation Center in Battle Creek has opened their doors for the first time since closing at the beginning of the pandemic in March.
What does that mean for the homeless population who stayed there during the pandemic?
While Full Blast was closed, they opened their gymnasium to act as a 24-hour homeless shelter to help the "SHARE Center" that could not comply with social distancing because of their small-sized building.
The recreation director for the city of Battle Creek said while it did vary on the weather, there were always around five to 25 people who stayed.
"We had a large gymnasium that we were able to lift up the curtains so they had a lot of space. So they were in our building from probably the end of March until the end of July. They were also in here overnight. We were the overnight shelter for them also," said the City of Battle Creek Recreation Director Duska Brumm.
At the end of July, Brumm said those people were able to go back to the shelters.
Now that it's back open, Full Blast will have limited hours and safety measures in place.
All adult and children's programs have currently been suspended as well.
