Wetlands prepares to splash into the summer season

Wetlands Water Park is set to kick off its official summer season on May 23. This offseason, the town of Jonesborough made a number of upgrades to the park that Parks and Rec. Director Chris Kudera said that are going to really make a difference. "The town of Jonesborough, over the last two years, have began to heavily invest in the water park because they realize it's a regional tourism destination," Kudera said. "This past offseason, we did a full system upgrade of our filtration system, so the water that's in the pool will be filtered at two hours or below meaning that all 250,000 gallons will be run through our filter every two hours." The water park also installed a pool heater for the upcoming season that Kudera said they plan to use to knock the chill off in the mornings, as well as to help the park extend their season through the entirety of September. The park also upgraded its sound system in an effort to help better focus volume output in certain areas of the park. Whereas before, the park only had sound coming from a single central location making anyone near it deafened by the loud music that had to be loud enough to be heard throughout the park, now the music will be concentrated to multiple speakers throughout the facility with the quieter places having a softer volume and the louder places having increased volume. Kudera said the park has also installed its own concession stand specifically for those with a sweet tooth. The Sweet Shack will be serving Dippin' Dots, Slush Puppies, ice cream and other dessert offerings will be offered at the new building. "We also added another cabana," Kudera said. "Our cabanas were a real hot commodity last year just because you're guaranteed shade, you get a little nicer furniture and you just get a space to yourself, especially at the low rate we charge." Additionally, Kudera said that a lot of small cosmetic touch-ups were made as well as some fresh paint and fencing to some areas of the park. Seeing families come together and have a good time is something that Kudera said he looks forward to each year when the park opens. "I have family that comes to the park and a lot family friends who come— and seeing them get to hang out with their families and getting to enjoy something that is near and dear to Jonesborough's heart is awesome," Kudera added. He said that seeing the hard work of the staff come to fruition and hearing the compliments each year of the patrons makes him proud and said the staff feels incredibly rewarded once everything fully comes together. May 23 is the official start to the summer season for the park which will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and will feature a special flat rate of $10 admission to celebrate the grand opening.