Fitness suites at four leisure centres in Antrim and Newtownabbey will reopen next week at a cost of more than £1m for 35 staff to return to work.
The borough council has furloughed almost half its 650 workers during lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The local authority has been losing £750k monthly since the closure of facilities in March in response to the crisis.
With further easing of restrictions announced by the Northern Ireland Executive, Antrim and Newtownabbey is planning a phased reopening of its leisure centres from July 15.
However, as the centres will only be partially operating, the council expects that some overheads such as utility bills will be reduced during this phase and that an income of £650,000 can be generated.
It is expected that Ballyearl Arts and Leisure Centre will remain closed due to “challenges of size and layout”.
Fitness suites will be open and fitness classes will be provided at the Valley and Sixmile Leisure Centres. The fitness suite at Antrim Forum will also be reopening.
Fitness classes will be re-located to the sports halls at the Valley and Sixmile to allow adequate space to comply with social distancing.
There is no fitness suite nor fitness class provision at Allen Park.
It is expected that gym equipment at Crumlin Leisure Centre will be relocated to one of the sports halls to comply with social distancing.
It will cost £18,000 to install signage, stickers and dividers to manage the flow of people at each of the centres.
Welcoming the reopening, Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Alderman John Smyth said: it was "another important step in our recovery from the impact of Covid-19 and we are optimistic that further services can re-start soon”.
From August 7, indoor swimmig pools can reopen, as well as sports halls for activities such as badminton, table tennis, five-a-side football and soft play.
Preparations will include re-filling and heating pools, re-opening changing and showers, putting appropriate social distancing measures in place and staff training.
