Sparse attendance leads to cut in W’burg waterpark schedule

When Williamsburg officials were finally able to open the Kentucky Splash Waterpark last month, Mayor Roddy Harrison admits that he was concerned about possibly too many people wanting to visit the waterpark after being cooped up for the past few months due to COVID-19.

Instead, the waterpark is having much sparser attendance than expected to the extent of city officials have reduced the number of days the park operates and are discussing possibly closing the park for the season before Labor Day.

During Monday’s regular Williamsburg City Council meeting, which was held via the online meeting platform Zoom, Mayor Roddy Harrison discussed waterpark attendance.

Harrison said that the waterpark reduced its schedule from being open seven days a week to instead Friday – Sunday a couple of weeks or so ago.

Due to low attendance this past Friday, Harrison said the park will switch to a Saturday-Sunday only schedule after this weekend for the rest of the season due to lesser than anticipated attendance.

This past Friday only 576 people visited the waterpark compared to about 1,400 people Saturday and about 1,200 Sunday.

By comparison, on a typical non-COVID-19 Saturday, the waterpark would probably have 2,500 visitors.

Whether there are 10 people at the waterpark or 4,000, Harrison noted that the park still has to maintain the same number of lifeguards, and do increased cleaning due to COVID-19.

“It is kind of hard to make payroll,” Harrison said about the low attendance figures.

Currently, the waterpark is slated to remain open through Labor Day, which is the end of the season, but Harrison warned that if attendance drops off too much, then it might have to close early.