'We're thrilled': Stage 2 starts Thursday, restaurants and attractions prepare for busy weekend
Stage 2 of Alberta’s Open for Summer Plan starts Thursday, easing dining restrictions and marking the reopening of some Edmonton attractions.
Restaurants may seat up to six people at a table, indoors or outdoors, and dining is no longer restricted to households only. The province says physical distancing and other restrictions still apply.
“With more than 67 per cent of eligible Albertans vaccinated with a first dose, a fully reopened Alberta is within our sight,” Premier Jason Kenney said in a press release Wednesday.
“We are putting the worst of this pandemic behind us for good and moving into a bright summer and an even brighter future.”
The premier is still encouraging Albertans to get vaccinated so the province can fully reopen this summer.
WHAT IS REOPENING IN EDMONTON?
West Edmonton Mall announced the reopening of the following attractions: Ed’s Bowling, Professor WEM’s Adventure Golf, Marine Life, Ice Palace, DRIVE, Alien Outbreak Escape Room, Dragon’s Tale Blacklight Miniature Golf.
“We’re thrilled, we’re ecstatic, we’re happy, we’re all of the above and so much more to be opening again,” said Lily Lein, parks and attractions marketing manager at WEM.
Galaxyland and WEM’s World Waterpark will reopen shortly after the Stage 2 relaunch.
Attractions will be open with one-third capacity, and all tickets must be booked online to guarantee a spot.
Theatres across the province will also reopen starting on Thursday. Landmark Cinemas CEO Bill Walker says staff are excited to get back to work after being shut down in December 2020.
“We felt we were unfairly closed and severely restricted through some of this,” said Walker. “While capacity is limited, we’re also looking forward to a reduction in those restrictions as we get into July.”
However, he added: “I don’t imagine there’s a moment where we just rip the Band-Aid off and say, ‘The rules are gone.’”
Capacity restrictions will be similar to last summer, with 33 per cent of fire code capacity allowed in the theatre at Landmark.
Movie times have been staggered to allow for increased cleaning and to allow movie-goers to enter and exit the theatres with less people crowding the lobbies, Walker explained.
He added people can still buy tickets in person, but encourages Albertans to buy online to guarantee availability of tickets.
“We’ve sold about 60 per cent of the available seats that we had for Thursday,” said Walker.
He says the most popular movies will likely sell out this weekend as people are excited to get back into the theatre.
Walker adds that because of the large HVAC systems in their theatres and the distancing between seats, movie-goers can feel safe talking off their mask as they enjoy their concession snacks.
“We’ve never been implicated in a transmission of COVID through this whole pandemic,” said Walker. “Frankly, taking your mask off and just escaping and enjoying something that feels completely normal was really missed and something people enjoyed last summer and fall.”
Stage 3 of Alberta’s reopening plan is expected to begin in late June or early July and requires 70 per cent of eligible Albertans to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.