CHESAPEAKE BEACH, Md. – Changes could be coming to Chesapeake Beach Waterpark. Closing the park has been the talk of the town for some time now, but it sounds like it may become more of a reality.
At Town Hall on Tuesday evening, the Chesapeake Beach Town Council received plans to replace the park with an aquatic center. The plan comes after the town sent out survey forms to get input from town residents on what to do with the waterpark. If the waterpark were to stay as-is, the nearly 30-year-old facility would need a lot of repairs that would cost a lot of money. Speaking of money, the waterpark this past summer lost $700,000 in operating costs. That’s in part because of the higher ticket costs for out-of-town visitors and a lot fewer people visiting the park this year.
Plans for an aquatic center would include a five-lane competition pool, a leisure pool, and a spray ground. The project could cost up to $5 million, which Mayor Pat Mahoney suggested using the town’s $3.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
All of the council members seemed to be excited about the plan, but Councilwoman Valerie Beaudin did mention that it’s been a staple in the community and will be hard to see it go.
“I think it’s a good start. Just know that I think it’s heartbreaking that we have to maybe put to rest the waterpark after how much it’s meant to all of us”, said Beaudin.
Councilwoman Margaret (Peggy) Hartman said she’s ready to get the project going.
“I am a band-aid-off fast person. I am all over this. Close it down. Get immediately shovels in the ground and fix it. And in 2024 have a big opening party for the town.”
The council did not take votes on moving forward with the plan on Tuesday since it was a work session.
Mayor Mahoney said he would keep the issue on the front burner and asked for a progress report and status update each month moving forward.
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The got 3.9 million from the Federal government and they want to use that for a new pool and probably still charge an arm and leg for non Chesapeake Beach residents so it wouldn’t be profitable. But the town still lacks a major grocery store. ..the Beach has always been the laughing stock of Calvert county.
Lol! Tickets will probably be over $500 a day to get in
Why did a town like this get nearly $4,000,000 in “American Rescue Act” funds? No wonder we’re bankrupt…
Where will the new park be located?
Washington dc
Poor use of funds. How much are the water park owners getting in this deal. Stop saving the rich.
A five-lane “competition” pool would be pointless; it needs to be a 6-lane pool at minimum, otherwise it won’t be hosting competitions. Please consult local swim clubs for more info.
Sounds like you should get input from Aquatic professionals before making this decision. So much goes into having a profitable aquatic center. 6 lanes should be the minimum number of lanes for competitions and if your intentions are to out price those not in CB you will be right back to where you started. In a deficit.
How about pickleball courts!
That’s a great idea! It would be much cheaper build and maintain and it would be heavily used compared to a pool. There would be money left over for a spa pool for sore bodies.
If I were a cynic, I’d say all this was planned, and the Town will botch the replacement. Back in May, The Baynet reported the Town was planning to spend over $1M on repairs and that utility, chemical, and infrastructure costs saw “substantial” increases. Those substantial increases are going to go down when a new pool gets built? I don’t think so.
So what’d the Town do? They raised prices to the point where it was cheaper to go to Six Flags. They knew no one would come, now they’re crying because of low attendance. Was that planned?
$5M for a new facility? According to whom? The Edward Hall Aquatic Center in Prince Frederick (a mere 11 miles from the waterpark) cost $20M and was done 13 years ago. EVERYTHING is much more expensive so unless the plan is to stick an open pool in an empty lot, the Town is fooling themselves and the Town residents by thinking it’ll cost $5M and the Town will only have to kick in a small portion. Then, magically, all those chemical and utility costs that plagued the Water Park will go away because the water is in a rectangle-shaped pool?
Town residents should be upset that their elected officials are even thinking about this. We all got a measly $1,400 check during COVID, but the Town thinks it’s a good idea to spend almost $4M of their COVID relief on a new money pit.
“Distribute more than $360 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to ensure that they are in a position to keep front line public workers on the job and paid, while also effectively distributing the vaccine, scaling testing, reopening schools, and maintaining other vital services. State and local employment has fallen by around 1.4 million jobs since the pandemic began including layoffs of 1 million educators, compared to around 750,000 job losses during the Great Recession.”
Source whitehouse.gov
Maybe there is something else about funds that government entities receive under that Act and how they can spend but the above is what I found. This sounds like another fraud situation of misused COVID $.
To be clear, I do not live there but I have been a frequent customer of the park. There was no quality competition until they raised the price point for non-locals such that it was cheaper to go to Six Flags in Bowie or nearly any other large amusement park for that matter. I don’t know what the repair costs would be like but since they didn’t disclose the cost it makes me wonder whether they were significant like the proposed aquatic center or they don’t want to advertise how much cheaper it would be to modernize it.
Based upon the article (all we have to go on) it seem like the council is just a little to eager for this new aquatic center. To put it another way, something doesn’t add up. There is no mention of how much it would cost to repair the waterpark, they mention the price of a new aquatic center and using funds that appear would be misappropriated, and the council (except one member, thank you for your skepticism/reluctance) seems eager to move forward like they have an ulterior motive.
All of this being said:
-I am not a resident
-I don’t know the council
-I don’t have all the details
-I don’t know what the residents want
-I am going off what I have experienced and what this article states and includes
I am a resident, but your candor and insight are much appreciated.
Corruption at it’s finest
How about utilizing those funds to expand, connect and widen the new walking paths to accommodate leisure and commuter biking in addition to foot traffic.
I hate the aquatic idea… leave the Waterpark…. So much cheaper to do repairs and who the hell wants to swim indoors? Been in CB for 13 years now and every time I enjoy something this town has to offer it disappears… definitely regretting buying a house here