COVID closes popular Hamilton waterpark Wild Waterworks again
Popular Hamilton waterpark Wild Waterworks will stay closed for another summer because of COVID-19.
The Confederation Park attraction did not open in 2020 because of provincial pandemic emergency regulations meant to prevent viral spread.
Despite an ongoing COVID vaccination campaign, it is not foreseeable" that the government would allow the park's waterslides, wave pool and lazy river to reopen at full capacity to visitors this summer, according Lisa Burnside, head of the Hamilton Conservation Authority that runs the facility.
Even if the province eventually allows waterparks to reopen with visitor restrictions, Burnside predicts it would do so later in summer - probably not before mid-July.
At 25 per cent capacity - at best about 66,000 visitors for a shortened summer - the waterpark faced a likely summer-end deficit of between $865,000 and $1.5 million. It takes about 100,000 visitors between June and Labour Day for the waterpark to break even in a normal year, Burnside said.
The city could also choose to keep part of the waterpark open as a flat water" swimming hole, rather than a wave pool. But that strategy assumes parents would feel comfortable bringing unvaccinated kids together at the facility, said Burnside, who added swimming families tended to flock" to wide-open beaches rather than pools last summer.
Keeping the park shuttered once again, by contrast, will cost the city about $300,000 for maintenance and security.
The city public works committee unanimously endorsed keeping the park shut, a decision expected to be ratified at council next week.
At this point it's a pretty easy decision to make," said Coun. Chad Collins, pointing to the grim direction of the pandemic in recent weeks.
COVID infections continue to spike in Hamilton and across Ontario during a brutal third wave that has filled hospitals and spurred a stay-at-home order that will not be lifted before May 20 at the earliest.
The conservation authority will spend the summer repainting sliding tubes and rubberizing older sections of the wave pool in the hopes of reopening in 2022.
Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com