Summer is coming to a close in Portage la Prairie.
The leaves are starting to change, and with that, we see certain activities start to get restricted, including outdoor waterparks like Portage's Splash Island.
Portage Regional Recreation Authority (PRRA) recreation manager Zapphira Neuschwander says that the organization was pleased with how the year went.
"There were some poor weather days, but overall we had lots of warm weather days where people were able to get out and enjoy the pool."
Neuschwander shares that it was a great year regarding attendance, weather and staffing.
As far as comparing this past summer to the two prior, things were a lot different, according to the PRRA employee.
"Total numbers for the summer compared to pre-COVID years, we're definitely in line, if not a little bit higher. So, we are very happy with the attendance numbers this summer."
As of September 5th, the water park had officially closed its doors. Neuschwander says the winterizing of the park takes a lot of hours--about a whole week, to be exact--
"The cleaning process is a lot of work. Work with outdoor seasonal pools are a lot of work for maintenance staff, so opening them up is quite a bit of work and closing them down doesn't take quite as long. But there's obviously a lengthy cleaning process that is involved in shutting that down for the season," continues Neuschwander. "And then opening up takes them a good four weeks."
Neuschwander notes that the park recently celebrated two decades in operation, and they look forward to continuing to grow, starting in the middle of June 2023.