Many restaurants and amenities will be opening up across Niagara tomorrow, Friday – but swimming in a pool won’t be a part of this summers activities for Thorold families after the city decided the Richmond Street pool will remain closed for the rest of the summer.
Earlier this spring the city closed down all its amenities and recreational spaces amidst the pandemic, and while the region officially will enter Phase 2 on Friday, some spaces will remain closed.
Instead, city hall decided to ramp up staffing at five of the six splash pads found across Thorold.
“They have previously not been staffed, but to comply with public health regulations we will be manning the,. We are in touch with Public Health as well just to see how the cleaning of those areas would look, such as fencing and washrooms,” said Thorold CAO Manoj Dilwaria to Thorold News.
Dilwaria said the normal operating cost for the splash pads of $42,000 is estimated to increase to $245,000.
However, the increase will be offset by the savings of not opening the pool.
“In between the two it will be within our budget,” said Dilwaria.
As the city is constantly reevaluating its operations, he added the city will be hiring students to man the pads.
730 cases of COVID-19 have been found in Niagara since March 13, of which a vast majority, 638, have recovered.
