BEATRICE, NEB. - As hot weather lingers across Nebraska, many are making a splash to stay cool.

Donna Arena is Manager for the Big Blue Water Park in Beatrice and says they’re busier then ever.

“We’ve had about another 100 people per day on top of the usual numbers of people we’ve been getting, so been very busy,” Arena said.

High temperatures for the week have ranged from 90-103 degrees in southeast Nebraska. With an increase in attendance, the staff at the pool located at 12th and Scott feels the load as well. They face longer days and also more enforcement of rules and regulations.

“The workers are hotter, they get tired easier, they have new people who don’t know the rules and they have to teach them,” Arena said. “For managers, it’s the same deal, you’ve got new people, we sit them down make sure they understand why we have the rules we do.”

The pool averages about 275 people per day and 965 have a season pass. Last year, pool attendance topped 18,000. The highest one-season attendance ever was about 21,000, about eight years ago.

Arena says the pool is an important place for the Beatrice community.

“You get all the people here, they have fun, have a good time and meet new people when they come here and we can broaden that community.”