Another shutdown of the walking path on Tumamoc Hill looms if visitors don’t adhere to wearing masks, the University of Arizona said.
The popular site will be under evaluation starting Friday, July 24. If the mask requirements are not met in a two-week period, it will close. As manager of the site, UA officials did not say how long a potential shutdown would last.
The site was closed March 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It reopened May 25 and within a week saw nearly 1,000 people each day, a UA news release said.
However, only 30 to 40% of these visitors were following guidelines.
UA has applied some of the same protocols seen on campus to the site, including sanitizing stations. The school also added markings on the path to direct visitors to adhere to social distancing, but many walkers have not complied, the university said in the release.
Ben Wilder, director of Tumamoc Hill, acknowledged the reason for the requirements is not only due to the virus being widespread, but also frequent visitors making it nearly impossible to socially distance.
Face coverings should remain on at all times, but Wilder says visitors should refrain from threatening others walkers to follow suit at Tumamoc.
“Be mindful of effective but unthreatening approaches you might take in engaging with other members of our community who are not complying with this requirement. Think safety. Wear a mask. Be compassionate. Continue to enjoy Tumamoc Hill,” he said.
