Atilis Gym reopens Friday after health department shutdown
BELLMAWR, N.J. - A day after health officials shuttered Atilis Gym in South Jersey, the owners reopened the gym without incident Friday.
FOX 29 cameras were there as owners Frank Trumbetti and Ian Smith reopened their doors to members for the fourth time this week.
The Bellmawr gym was closed Thursday after Trumbetti and Smith found orange stickers from the Camden County Health Department declaring an embargo and a four-page notice from the state Department of Health was left on their door overnight.
Attorneys representing the gym's owners and members said Friday morning they planned to file a federal case seeking an injunction to the governor's order on nonessential businesses.
The gym first reopened on Monday and had continued daily operations, receiving summonses each day for violating the governor’s executive order that closed nonessential businesses. Police say they issued a third summons for violation of the executive order on Wednesday and six other individuals were issued a summons for using the gym.
Thursday, Trumbetti and Smith had said they would “deal” with the notices before reopening Friday.
In addition to the health department’s embargo, the owners say they also spent part of the last two days dealing with a sewage backup that forced patrons to evacuate the building on Wednesday.
RELATED COVERAGE:
New Jersey Department of Health shuts down Atilis Gym
South Jersey gym reopens in defiance of governor's order, owners cited
Bellmawr gym reopens again Tuesday, owners and members receive citations
Bellmawr gym reopens again Wednesday, owners receive third citation
"According to our beliefs, we have been allowing our members in because of the wording of Governor Murphy's executive order stating the gym had to remained closed to the public," Trumbetti said Thursday. "We have stood firm, as long as we let members in, we are not doing anything that's against the law and criminal. The paperwork that's on the window, we don't know if it's actually deemed legal or not because they put it on in the middle of the night. We were not served with those papers."
Meanwhile, Camden County Freeholder Louis Cappelli Jr. on Friday said he supports the state's decision to uphold Murphy's executive order. Cappelli Jr sympathized with small business owners saying that no one is immune to the economic impact of the virus, but a healthy population will is paramount to economic success.
"I am hopeful that this situation can be resolved cooperatively, and that the gym will be able to welcome back their patrons when, and only when, it has been deemed safe to do so by the state of New Jersey," Cappelli Jr. said in a statement.
READ: New Jersey Health Department Order Closing Atilis Gym
Trumbetti and Smith also planned to debut a new facial recognition that can read their members’ temperatures as they enter the gym. Previously, gym staff took patrons' temperatures at the door and anyone at 100.4 or above was not allowed inside.
___
For the latest local news, sports and weather, download the FOX 29 News app.
DOWNLOAD: FOX 29 NEWS APP