BOSTON – State officials are planning for a complete reopening of the Massachusetts economy by the end of summer with guidelines and restrictions being loosened for businesses around the commonwealth.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced the loosened restrictions for businesses during a news conference on April 27. He began by stating that the commonwealth had seen a decrease of COVID-19 cases including decreased hospital visits and a drop in positive cases reported. He said the seven day average for positive cases at the time of the conference was 1.7 percent.

The last set of restrictions lifted by the governor’s administration was on March 22 when the state progressed into phase four, step one of the commonwealth’s reopening plan. Baker also addressed the return to in- person learning for students, he said with the proper protocols and mitigation that it has been proven that in-person learning is safe. He also addressed the efforts of DESE to get middle and elementary aged students back to in-person learning. He went on to announce that high school students would be required to return to in-person learning by May 17.

Baker went on to say that due to improved public health measures on May 10 many outdoor venues would be allowed to move into step four phase two. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito explained that almost a year ago on May 18, 2020,the state had announced the four-step plan to reopen the Massachusetts economy. She thanked businesses that had cooperated throughout the course of the last year.

“We know how difficult this has been for all of our businesses across our commonwealth. We want to thank you for your hard work, your creativity, your ingenuity and your perseverance to get through these very challenging times,” she said. “And for working with us through the guidance and the protocols to return your workers back into your workplaces and to safely return customers back into your businesses.”

Polito went on to echo what Baker said, stating that positive health trends in a decreased number of COVID-19 cases, a decreased number of hospitalizations and an increase in the number of people getting vaccinated had allowed the state to move forward with the next step of their reopening plan. The first step forward for the commonwealth would be on April 30 when the face coverings order would be relaxed for some outdoor settings.

Baker said beginning on April 30 face coverings would only be required outdoors when people were unable to socially distance and at other times “required by sector-specific guidance.” Face masks would also be required outdoors at all times during events. According to the guidance issued by the Baker-Politio Administration masks should be worn at all events “whether held indoors or outdoors and whether held in a public space or a private home, except when eating or drinking.” While masks would still be required at all times in indoor public places, they are not required for small gatherings in private homes, but were still recommended.

On May 10 the state will proceed forward once again, this time allowing large outdoor and indoor venues such as stadiums, arenas and ballparks to increase capacity from 12 percent to 25 percent. At the same time, businesses such as amusement parks, theme parks and outdoor water parks will be allowed to open and operate at 50 percent, but will be required to submit a safety plan to the Department of Public Health (DPH).

Also beginning once again on May 10 will be the allowance of road races and other large, outdoor organized athletic group events. Such events, such as professional and amateur 5Ks, marathons and triathlons will be required to take place with a staggered start and submit a safety plan to the local Board of Health or DPH. Youth and adult amateur sports tournaments will also be allowed to resume on May 10 for both moderate and high risk sports. Lastly, effective May 10,singing will be allowed once again indoors with strict social distance requirements.

On May 29, Polito explained that the state would step forward once again by increasing gathering limits for public and private outdoor events from 200 to 250. Additionally, street festivals, parades and agricultural festivals would be allowed to resume operations. However, they will be required to submit a safety plan to their local board of health and operate at 50 percent of their previous capacity.

At the same time, bars, beer gardens, breweries, wineries and distilleries would be able to once again resume opening to the public following the same rules and regulations as restaurants with seated service only, a 90-minute time limit and no dance floors. In conjunction with alcohol-related businesses opening, the state will also lift their requirements that food be served with alcohol and table seating will be increased to accommodate 10 people.

On Aug. 1, as long as trends continued in the right direction, both Baker and Polito said all remaining industries would be allowed to reopen. Such industries include dance clubs and nightclubs; saunas, hot-tubs, steam rooms at fitness centers, health clubs and other facilities; indoor water parks; and ball pits. Also on Aug. 1, all capacity restrictions and industry restrictions would be lifted allowing for businesses to operate at 100 percent capacity. Gathering limits would also be rescinded, but businesses will be encouraged to continue following best practices. At this time, however, face coverings will still be required indoors.

Polito said should the trends continue in a positive direction the state may be able to take this step prior to Aug. 1.

 Local Reaction

Reminder Publishing reached out to local businesses and organizations who will be affected by the new guidelines.

Big E Director of Marketing Noreen Tassinari shared, “We are elated and encouraged by the new guidelines announced by Gov. Baker today and we continue to move forward in our planning for The Big E, as we currently host shows, events and drive-movies at our facility. We will be working closely with the Town of West Springfield and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as we prepare a comprehensive safety plan for the fair and adapt protocols in place for our year-round shows. Though The Big E has not yet been green-lighted, we are pleased with today’s news as an important step in welcoming guests to the fair in September.”

Three County Fair General Manager James Przybek said before the new guidance was released the initial plan was to host a modified fair like in 2020.

“We were planning to be ready no matter what the restrictions were going to be, and we were likely going to host a similar fair to what we did last year,” he said.

With the official guidance set, Przybek said the fair is ready to move forward with a normal Labor Day weekend.

“The announcement gave us the confidence to move forward with a normal fair this year. It looks like we will be in good shape to have 10,000 people every day over the Labor Day weekend,” he said.

Przybek added that he was surprised the restrictions will be lifted by Aug. 1 but said he was happy that things would be back to normal business by then.

“My first reaction was that I was shocked, but then the stress was taken away knowing that we will be able to move forward with a normal fair this year,” he said.

As of right now, the Cummington Fair – which is set for Aug. 26 to 29 – is in between board meetings that occur once a month. According to Albert Judd, the president of the fair, the newest Baker guidelines mean great news for fair industry as a whole.

“Previous to this, everybody has been planning and waiting to see what the future was going to bring without much indication of what was on the horizon,” said Judd. “Now, everyone has something to work with in front of them, which will make planning here on forward greatly easier.”

Cummington will spearhead some events prior to the actual fair, as well. These events include a tractor ride, a chicken barbecue, and the Massachusetts Renaissance Fair. The Hampshire County 4H Fair will occur on Aug. 14, according to Judd.

There is usually also a sheep and wool craft fair in May that had to be canceled because the people who run it were still unsure how the guidelines would play out. May’s guidelines are also much different than August’s guidelines at this moment.

“There’s no handbook for something like this,” said Judd, with regard to how he thinks Gov. Baker has handled the COVID-19 response. “We’re all hopeful that, going forward, the guidelines don’t take a step back. It would’ve been nice to have a little bit earlier information, but it is what it is. We can move forward from here.”

In a prepared statement, Six Flags New England President Pete Carmichael said, “We are beyond thrilled that we can reopen our theme park with a full complement of our more than 100 rides, attractions, and unique experiences.

“Now more than ever families need an escape that is safe, accessible, and fun. The thrill is calling and our team is eager to welcome back our members, season pass holders, and guests once again,” added Carmichael.

All Six Flags guests will need to reserve their visit at sixflags.com/reserve to manage attendance and stagger arrival times. This includes all members, season pass holders and day ticket holders.

Other safety procedures include state-of-the-art thermal imaging for temperature checks; and advanced security-screening technology for touchless bag checks, according to the park.

In Holyoke, the Valley Blue Sox are working with several local departments to reopen MacKenzie Stadium.

Valley Blue Sox General Manager Kate Avard shared, “Myself and the rest of the Blue Sox leadership are closely monitoring all state and local guidelines. We are closely working with the Holyoke Parks & Rec department and Holyoke Board of Health to determine the best way to safely open MacKenzie Stadium. These guidelines are very promising and we are excited to have the opportunity to welcome our fans back to MacKenzie. We will share specifics with our fans as soon as they are available via our website and social media.”

Though a representative from the Holyoke Merry Go Round was not available for comment, a voicemail on their machine indicated that they plan to reopen in July. The automated message indicated they are “working hard to sanitize the building,” including six-foot distancing markers and are adding plexiglass.

“Oh my gosh, we’re so excited,” said Kim Hulsander, a manager at La Cucina di Hampden House said about the rollback of restrictions. “I think so many businesses will be excited and, frankly, restaurants deserve it.”

La Cucina is an Italian restaurant located at the intersection of Allen Street and Somers Road in Hampden. While the restaurant relied on take-out service during the worst of the pandemic, it has reopened its dining room to limited numbers of guests. Currently, the restaurant seats 30 to 40 diners, as opposed to the 198 customers when opened to full capacity.

Moving forward, Hulsander said, “We’re going to abide by all the rules the governor has in place, but we’re going to take advantage of all the rollbacks.”

Paul Roberge, the restaurant’s operator, expects the restrictions rollback to have a major effect on business.

“The biggest impact its going to have is on our bar business,” Roberge said, adding that the plexiglass barriers and specific seating have damaged the atmosphere of the bar.

Another area that will benefit is the Greenhouse, La Cucina’s banquet and private function space. Located across the street at 2 Somers Rd., the Greenhouse holds up to 100 people and is often used to host wedding receptions

“We have tons of functions booked,” Roberge said, but he noted they are smaller than before the pandemic. “We’re not seeing 80 to 100 people like we used to. I think people are hesitant to get together in larger groups.”

Cedars Banquet Facility in Springfield has now been closed for a year and two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Manager Joann Gagliarducci said that this is because of previous capacity restrictions put forth by Gov. Charlie Baker.

“We couldn’t do any events. Most events that he was restricting it to were 25 people inside and so most people said they would rather postpone it and wait to see what happens or they just canceled it,” she said.

Gagliarducci said that Baker’s newly released reopening plan and lifting of capacity limits is, therefore, great news for Cedars Banquet Facility.

“It was very good news. It will also increase our availability for people who are having larger events. I mean some of them we’ve still postponed until next year because our hall holds 637, so we can’t do any large events right now, they’ve had to be put off... But now, weddings, people can do at least 200 people,” she said.

Gagliarducci said that Cedars Banquet Facility will now be reopening in June.

The Boylston Rooms in Easthampton will continue to provide their customers and clients with the most updated guidelines so that they can make decisions that best suits them.

According to Erin Witmer, the owner of Boylston, the industrial wedding venue’s capacity is very close to Gov. Baker’s most recent outdoor and indoor capacity limits.

"For us, that would essentially be going back to normal in terms of capacity,” said Witmer. “I think it’ll take a while for our clients to be ready to do that … I think it will be a while for people to feel comfortable being in a room with 200 other people.”

Currently, the venue is hosting smaller weddings, and actually had an eight-person wedding back in February. Since then, they have had a few weddings with 20 or 25 people.

"We’re kind of slowly getting bigger,” said Whitmer. “But a lot of our clients have hesitancy about inviting their whole original guest list, so people are really thinking about where their guests are, and just being very conscientious about making sure that their guests are comfortable.”

Witmer believes that Baker has done an “amazing” job overall with his COVID-19 response, as well as helping small businesses get back on their feet.

“What he’s done to pull the state through has been nothing short of a miracle,” she said.

Glendale Ridge Vineyard in Southampton will be approaching the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in May in the same cautious way they approached the lockdown in March 2020.

“We actually closed our tasting room a week before Gov. Baker’s mandate because we were very concerned for our staff and customers,” Ed Hamel, one of the vineyard owners, told Reminder Publishing. “Honestly, I don’t think we’ll be ready to reopen our tasting room by the end of May.”

Though Hamel said he wasn’t yet fully familiar with the restrictions that were easing in the upcoming weeks, he noted Glendale Ridge had already anticipated following the model set by Tanglewood in the Berkshires, and wasn’t planning a reopening of their tasting room “until mid-July.”

He said, “We’re definitely not going to rush into this.”

Until that time, Hamel said the winery will be following the procedures they used last summer, which includes hosting all events outdoors with ample space between parties visiting the Vineyard.

“Last year we offered tailgating with 27 feet between vehicles; it was set up similar to an outdoor movie theater,”  he said. Because the old berry field the winery used for tailgating is still too wet at this time, they have set up 27 picnic tables “spaced far apart” and some adirondack chairs near their wine storage barn – which is being used for wine sales at this time – for guests to use during the springtime weekend openings.

Hamel said the vineyard is also only selling wine by the bottle at this time, and are prepared to re-cork bottles for guests who don’t finish their purchase. The winery may also begin selling flights – three, three-ounce disposable glasses of selected wines – in the coming weeks. Hamel said they did offer some flights toward the end of last summer, which was well-received by guests – and recently offered a rosé flight during a “Pink Moon Rising” event the Vineyard hosted on April 26.

Glendale Ridge has also tentatively booked some musical acts at the vineyard for the month of September, "with the musicians knowing this might not happen,” depending on the COVID-19 situation at the time, Hamel said.