After wild weather swings...its time for pool season!

BEATRICE – The Beatrice Public Properties Department is preparing for the new season at the Big Blue Water Park in Beatrice.  Opening day, weather permitting, is set for Saturday of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Public Properties Director Mark Pethoud says the city started filling the pool on Monday, and it takes about 72 hours to fill completely.

"We're just doing some tidying up, getting things ready and this weekend, the pool staff comes in and does their deep cleaning and gets that all ready....so we should be ready to go by the middle of next week."

The park opened in 2000 and is located at 12th and Scott Streets. Pethoud says its been holding up well.  "We're on year 23 right now. So far, everything has worked well....pumps are in good condition. We're doing some slide repairs right now, some calking on those. You're getting at that stage, probably in the next seven to ten years we actually need to start thinking what are we going to do...or to expand....we looked at that a few years ago."

The city is again keeping rates the same going into this season. There are individual and family season passes, along with daily rates. They are listed on the city’s website. There will be some special events scheduled at the water park during the season.

A splash pad located at Sertoma-Astro Park in the northeast part of the city opened last week. Pethoud says it usually starts operating Memorial Day weekend.
"But, we had a lot of phone calls...it was just one of those things we thought, well we better, with the heat....it's been busy every day. I went back last night at like, 7:15...and there were still people there."

The hope is to upgrade playground equipment at the park, but a grant application made by the city through a Nebraska Game and Parks Program was not funded, this time around. Pethoud says the cost of playground equipment, like many other things, has been rising.

"Our goal was for every couple of years, we were putting in a new set. Sets went from 40 to 50 (thousand) to a hundred and twenty, hundred a forty, now."
ADA regulations require rubber matting and concrete sidewalks around playground equipment to ensure accessibility for everyone.