Kettering water park to stay closed in 2020, despite OK from state to reopen

KETTERING — The city of Kettering will keep its Adventure Reef Water Park closed for the 2020 season, despite the state’s decision to allow water parks to reopen. The city said part of that decision is due to the economics of reopening for the season.

“It takes a number of employees to run a pool the size of our water park," said Kettering City Manager Mark Schwieterman.

At the time the coronavirus pandemic hit the region, Schwieterman said the city had not yet hired the employees that would have worked at the water park for the 2020 year.

When the Kettering Rec Center was forced to close due to the state’s health order many of its employees were furloughed or laid off.

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Schwieterman estimated it would have taken six to eight weeks to hire new employees for Adventure Reef after the state announced in late May that pools and water parks could reopen.

“Many of them would be lifeguard certified. That takes time,” Schwieterman said.

The city manager said by the time hiring and training was completed, the water park would have only been open for three to four weeks.

“It just would not make economic sense for us to try to open the pool for a small period of time," Schwieterman said.

The city is in the process of reopening the rec center. The indoor pool is scheduled to open on June 22.

Schwieterman said the decision to open the indoor pool was made because the employees of that smaller facility were already trained prior to the pandemic and can return immediately to the job after being laid off.

The city does have plans to introduce other programs within the city’s parks, recreation and cultural arts department over the summer for residents.

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