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Randy Levchuk, director of operations at Jilly’s Arcade on the Ocean City Boardwalk, says his customers are well aware their doors have been closed.
For starters, there will be less gamers inside as arcades open at limited capacity.
“We’re really going to be watching the number of people coming in and out of the arcade,” explained Levchuk. “We’re not going to be allowing people to come in from the back of the arcade, just off the boardwalk. That way, we can monitor it a lot closer and make sure we’re not going over what’s expected or what’s allowed.”
Then there are all the adjustments we’ve become accustomed to, such as masks, social distancing and hand sanitizing.
“The chemical is 99.95% protective about killing any type of virus or anything like that,” said Levchuk. “We’ve sprayed the basketballs, the footballs, the Skee-Balls, you name it. Any area that can be touched by the patrons has been sprayed already.”
Levchuk is “really excited” to open, saying the boardwalk has not been the same without arcades.
“To me, this place being closed, it’s not normal,” he said. “We’re normally (open) 24 hours a day in the summertime and being closed 24 hours instead of open 24 hours, I think it’s a big, mental toll for a lot of people that really use this place as a sense of getaway.”
Levchuk knows not everyone is going to feel comfortable coming to his or other arcades right away and hopes those people will at least come and look in from the outside so they can see the safety measures being taken for themselves.