PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — People asking city officials about it for months now have their answer: Presque Isle’s splash pad at Riverside Bicentennial Park will be open this summer.
The Presque Isle Recreation and Parks department said Wednesday, July 8, that the pad would open on Thursday.
It said the splash pad — as well as nearby snack shack — would be open from noon to 7 p.m. each day, barring weather-related cancellations. The pad will be used in 10-minute sessions, after which a new group will be able to enter the facility.
With the COVID-19 pandemic restricting summer activities across the country, there was doubt about the close contact fun of the splash pad would be allowed. But the city decided to open it, with several restrictions on the pad.
A maximum of 20 people will be allowed on the splash pad’s surface at one time. People must be six feet apart in the pad’s line, which will go down the bike path toward Kennedy Brook. Markings have been painted along the path to ensure social distancing. The snack line will also require six feet of distance between customers.
The splash pad quickly became a popular attraction at Riverside for area children when it opened in the summer of 2018. In the summer of 2019, then-parks director Chris Beaulieu estimated that 50-300 people visited the pad and nearby playground every day.
