Taverns, youth sports, indoor recreation spots see chance for relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in McHenry, Lake counties with Phase 4 in reach Wednesday

Local coaches and athletic directors were elated to see McHenry and Lake counties within reach of satisfying COVID-19 metrics to move into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan starting as soon as Wednesday, opening the door to high school sports being played competitively and more business activity at places like taverns.

Region 9, which is composed of McHenry and Lake counties, needs one more day below a 6.5% seven-day rolling positivity rate for the move to happen.

Obtaining Phase 4 status would mean area schools could participate in games for higher-risk sports and area establishments that serve alcohol but not food could reopen for the first time since the fall.

Under Phase 4, all IHSA sports can return to play. Boys and girls basketball, which the Illinois Department of Public Health considered higher-risk sports, was unable to play games under the Tier 1 coronavirus resurgence mitigations in place through at least Tuesday.

A move from Tier 1 into Phase 4 on Wednesday, which public health officials said Tuesday was on track to occur, would grant more levity to meeting spaces, as well, giving them the option to host up to 50 people at once, up from the lesser of 25% of normal capacity or 25 people under Tier 1.

While indoor recreation facilities like skating rinks and and bowling alleys are permitted to reopen under Phase 4 rules, indoor trampoline parks and playgrounds are to remain closed, according to state officials.

Jim Contos, the owner of Metro Bowl in Crystal Lake and half of the father-son duo that threw a perfect game together just before the height of the fall surge in the pandemic, said his business would be unable to open back up, despite the legal ability to do so under Phase 4, because he felt it doesn’t have enough room under the new mitigations.

“We just don’t have the space, but we would love to reopen,” Contos said.

Crystal Lake Ice House worker Abby Paul said the local skating facility just last weekend resumed holding free skates with masking and contact tracing of participants in place.

Urban Air Adventure Park, a Crystal Lake business that has trampolines and other attractions, was set to reopen on Friday for the first time with only some of its facility’s offerings available, according to its Facebook page. Attempts to reach Urban Air workers for an interview were unsuccessful.

Most area high schools have games scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 9, or Wednesday, Feb. 10, expecting that Phase 4 would be reached. The winter sports season, initially slated to start in mid-November with practices, now can run through March 13.

“I’m just excited for the kids,” Richmond-Burton athletic director Kristi Martin said last week when the IHSA released the remainder of its 2020-21 sports schedule. “We’re rockin’ and rollin’ kids. Let’s go! The overall sense of excitement is like a 100-pound weight lifted off your back. It’s just awesome.

“What can we do to keep it under control? We have to remember we’re still in a pandemic and still have to follow safety measures.”

Those measures will include crowds limited to 50 people. Most schools will have live streams of their basketball games so fans can watch on their computers.

Hampshire girls basketball coach Eric Samuelson was thrilled but cautious about the return to hoops.

“So much has been taken from these kids,” Samuelson said. “To be able to say, ‘We have a shot.’ And I also told them, ‘We’re going to follow the rules. Families too. Don’t screw it up. We got two months, everybody’s got to be on their best behavior.’”