SKY Armory plans to reopen for wedding receptions by mid-July

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — SKY Armory, an event venue located in downtown Syracuse, on Thursday said it has a reopen plan template to host wedding receptions as a phase 2 designated venue.

“We hope to start holding receptions by mid-July,” Nicole Samolis, president & general manager of SKY Armory, said in a release.

Using guidelines prepared by the Center of Disease Control [and Prevention], Samolis said the business “developed strategies on how a large group can gather safely. A phase 2 designation will provide the necessary two months for couples and families to commit to a date later this summer.”

SKY Armory says it first developed the template and shared it with the Onondaga County Department of Economic Development and the New York State Tourism Association. The Tourism Association, in turn, shared it with its members as a “model plan for event venues,” per its release.

SKY Armory recognized a key component is a “controlled environment with emphasis” on facility hygiene, employee monitoring, personal protection equipment (PPE), and preemptive contact collection and rapid tracing capability.

The “Interim Guidance Reopen Plan,” as SKY Armory calls it, can be modified for multiple private events as well as public events where ticketing procedures include contact collection and communication elements.

“While the pandemic has pushed many our 2020 wedding receptions to the fall and 2021, our contention is that we can safety prepare, monitor and control our environment,” said Samolis. “By partnering with our clients, we have much that we can do to control and minimize risk and response to any exposure. A core component of our template is based on immediate action and in full cooperation with all guests.”

SKY Armory shared the plan with the Sinclair of Skaneateles; Aster Weddings & Events, also of Skaneateles; and The Lodge at Welch Allyn in Skaneateles Falls, among others.

“Together we can demonstrate that we can open safely,” SKY Armory said.

All decisions about implementing the plan will be made in collaboration with the Onondaga County Health Department, New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), and other authorities who can “help assess the current level of mitigation needed” based on levels of COVID-19 community transmission and the capacities of the local public health and health-care systems, the release noted.